The Mediator
by Daidairo
Summary: AU. Mia was born with the special ability to see ghosts. Up to now, she had been using her powers to help ghosts and humans. But something darker seems to be threatening the souls of the dead. Mudshipping
1. First Book: Chapter I

The Mediator

First Book – Fighting the Living

I have decided to edit most of The Mediator, due to a lot of mishaps that have happened to my original draft book. Hence, I replanned most of it, causing in a need to rewrite most of the chapters (in bits), and decided to cut away the Japanese totally, and stick to English.

Disclaimer: Daidairo owns all the credit for replanning all these. She does not, however, own the Golden Sun.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Prologue

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The little girl stood at the side of the ice cream shop. She had straight locks of aqua coloured hair, and they fell over one shoulder as she cocked her head to the side.

The shop was gaily painted in red, blue and yellow. The owner was an old woman with greying hair and kind silver eyes. She smiled at the little girl when she noticed her staring. Privately, she was surprised that such a young girl was allowed out alone. She could not have been more than five.

"Are you lost?"

The girl shook her head.

"Do you want an ice cream, dear?"

The girl shook her head again. She continued staring, her eyes wide. She was looking at the spot behind the woman. Sensing it, the woman turned. She saw nothing behind her but empty air.

"You don't have to pay if you don't have any money," she said encouragingly, turning back. Her smile faded slightly. "My grandson... he used to love ice cream too."

The little girl turned to look at her. Seeing that she had her attention, the woman continued. "He was such a lovely boy. He was kind to everyone, especially me, and he always loved my ice cream. He refused to take any without paying." A sigh. "On his way to buy my ice cream, he was... knocked down by a car. I remember seeing his cap bob towards me, and the next moment..."

The little girl stared at the tears rolling down.

"I'm sorry; I didn't have to tell you that. It doesn't matter if you don't understand what happened to him, just forget what I said, okay?" the woman sniffed.

The little girl looked down. "Red. Red cap."

The woman nodded. "Yes. He was wearing his favourite red cap when it happened. I made it for him..." She broke off in disbelief. "How did you know he was wearing his red cap?"

The little girl turned to her. "Because he's there. Behind you."

Startled, the old woman turned. There was nothing behind her. "What do you mean?"

"He say goodbye. Say he steal ice cream last time. So he pay now," the little girl replied. Just then, there was a _plonk!_ on the metal cart. The old woman turned her eyes. Her empty bowl suddenly had a wallet in it.

Something gathered around her. It felt like wind, but it was not air. The old woman stiffened. She glanced quickly at the strange little girl.

"He say goodbye," the girl repeated. Then she turned and ran away.

The feeling disappeared. The woman found herself breathing heavily. She shivered, and stared at the wallet again.

It was the wallet she had sewn for her grandson.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter I

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Mia looked around her in wonder. Japan was nothing like England. There were more trees, and the sky was brighter than the grey ones in England. It was much more crowded, and much noisier.

Japan and England were very different.

"Mia!" Brett Quicksilver called, holding up a large bag of luggage. "Be a dear and carry this. It's the lightest one of the lot."

Mia ran to help. The wing tugged at the long blue sweater she was wearing, revealing a pale white blouse over a matching skirt. Her flat blue shoes stepped easily over the ground as she walked; the reason why she rarely wore shoes with heels.

"Is it too heavy?" Annabel Quicksilver asked anxiously. "Maybe we should have given these to the removal vans too."

"We can't," Brett grunted, trying to wave down a cab on the car filled road. "No space in the five vans we ordered, and getting another would crack our pockets."

A cab stopped, and the driver, a kindly man with black hair helped the family of three dump their luggage in the boot.

"Oo-air too?" he asked in English, seeing their foreign faces. His eyes lingered for a while on Mia's blue hair, but dismissed it as dye.

"Heaven no Tobira (1), the mansion on Mizutani Street (2)," Brett said in near perfect Japanese. His words were slightly ruined by an English accent. The cab driver grinned and the sound and started driving.

As the buildings flashed past, Mia looked outside the window in wonder. A year ago, she would never have imagined leaving England. Yet here she was, in Japan. Not just for a holiday either, but to stay.

Brett worked in an international bank, and when he was posted to Japan he had blurted "_Move!_" miserably as soon as he got home. Thankfully, Mia had taken lessons in Japanese language previously, so the only one clueless about the language was her mother.

Mia wondered what life would be like. She had not had many friends in England, because most people thought she was insane. So there was not much for her to miss.

The one thing she was sorry to leave behind was the Westernwood Girls' Choir. The teacher in charge, Mrs Nickerson, understood her well. It could be because she was a fortune teller, but Mia did not trust her skills. She still treated Mrs Nickerson as a friend, and the teacher did the same. The girls in the choir were the only ones who didn't mind her "talking to herself". They included her in the songs and worked with her. Though Mia was used to being alone, she still enjoyed simple, quiet companionship occasionally. And she loved music. Music could represent anything, and Mia grew up listening to the pictures that music portrayed.

Omoriki High (3). She wondered what studying with members of the opposite gender would be like. According to Jeraldine Roswell, who had a younger brother, boys were rough, hot tempered, lazy and unreliable.

"But if that is so, then men would be the same. Why isn't Father rough, hot tempered, lazy or unreliable? Well, maybe he is a little lazy sometimes, but still..."

Her thoughts were interrupted as the cab screeched to a stop. As Brett paid the driver an outrageous sum of money, Mia stepped out and looked around her, blinking.

Mizutani Street was a rather old place. The traditional wooden houses around were all built on platforms, raised on stilts. The biggest one was surrounded by a wooden fence made of extremely smooth wood, and a wooden plate nailed to it said "Heaven no Tobira" in katakana.

"You said a mansion," Annabel said, gulping.

"The company said a mansion," Brett agreed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Well, it _is_ a mansion. A Japanese mansion," Mia said doubtfully. She liked the design, and it looked pleasing, but she wondered if it had a bathroom, kitchen and electricity.

Apparently, her mother was worried about the same thing. She looked around the place, as if trying to spot an outhouse. Mia had no idea whether the Japanese used outhouses, but she was relieved when she saw water pipes and telephone lines.

As the driver heaved the last piece of luggage out, Brett unlocked the gate. A silver lock looked extremely out of place on the wood.

Inside the fence, the house looked rather vulnerable and prone to attacks. A lot of green grass covered the ground, with rocks and tiny plants everywhere.

"I don't see a lock on the front house," Annabel muttered nervously. Brett dragged the pieces of luggage into the grounds and dumped them on the ground.

"It's not supposed to have one," Brett replied, pushing at the front door. Mia rolled her eyes and shoved her father firmly aside with a smile.

"Father, sliding doors," she reminded, lightly moving the door to one side. Brett blinked.

They stepped in. The door let to a small hall with tatami mats (4) on the ground. The walls were painted a clean white, with a border of dark brown. Removing her shoes, Mia slid open the other door to the hall. It led to a long corridor, with double sliding doors in the middle.

The next room was rather large. Again, the ground was covered with tatami mats. A square, polished wooden table with its top near the ground stood in the middle. In one corner of the room, a small niche was built, with a single porcelain vase in it. In another corner, on a wooden cabinet, was a small black television set. Like the lock, it looked out of place.

"Living room, I think," Brett said.

Mia noticed yet another set of sliding doors across the room and she tugged it open. Then she gasped.

The doors led to the garden behind the house. A thin corridor around the walls of the house had wooden steps leading down to a stone path. The path was partially hidden by tall grass and weeds. Seashells paved the sides.

Other than the grass, some small trees and several flowers, there was a small, leaf-filled pond with a marble bridge across one side of it, connected to the stone path. Dragons were exquisitely carved on it, and similar designs covered stone totems lying randomly about. Other 'lawn ornaments' include rocks and guardian statues sitting stiffly nearby.

"Well! A garden!" Annabel cried out in delight. It was the first time she had smiled since they arrived at the house. Their own garden back in England had been derelict, and they could only grow weeds and some trees. Annabel loved gardening, and the new garden was definitely more promising than the old one.

"This place isn't so bad," Brett commented, peering over their shoulders. "There's a very modern kitchen with sinks and all. And a stove, a simple one. And there's a bathroom too!"

Mia breathed a sigh of relief. Though she did not hate traditional methods, she still preferred clean ways of doing things. Annabel was too busy admiring her new garden. Brett grinned at his daughter and winked.

"Why don't you choose a room? They're on the second floor," he suggested. Mia looked blank. She had not noticed any staircases anywhere. Brett chuckled and led her through the living room back to the corridor. Turning right, he went to the end and showed her two staircases neatly tucked away at the sides. One led underground to a small basement, while the other led to the second floor.

Mia hopped up the stairs, pleased to see that its banisters were made of polished marble, excellent for sliding. On the second floor, there were four rooms, each one accessable from the corridor. The first one she peered into was the master bedroom, with an attached bathroom. The one next to it was a small side room. Opposite them were two ordinary rooms, exactly alike.

Mia entered the first one. Like all other rooms in the house, the ground was covered with tatami. She opened the window facing north, then looked out.

The view she received was beautiful. That spot of Odaiba was not as traffic heavy as the rest. Happily, she breathed in the fresh air and looked fondly at a small forest nearby.

Something among the trees glimmered in the sunlight. Mia blinked, wondering if she had made a mistake. She moved to the other window.

It showed a clear, sparkling lake in the middle of the forest. Instantly, Mia decided to select the room she was in. She always loved water...

"Mia! Bring your luggage up!"

Mia snapped out of her daydream and ran down, skipping alternate steps. She picked up her bag and was about to head upstairs when she froze. Her eyes stared unblinkingly out into the grounds. Dropping the bag, she glanced nervously at her parents. They did not seem to have noticed anything. Shivering slightly, Mia turned.

"Hey, you there. Who are you?" she asked in a low voice.

The source of her uneasiness started and stared at her at bright, sky blue eyes. He had messy golden blond hair and wore a blue T-shirt with grey jeans. The first weird thing was that he was sitting on top of the gate. The second was that he was glowing with a pale white light.

The third, of course, was that no one could see him except Mia.

"You… how…" he said, looking slightly stricken.

"Yes, I can see you. What are you doing here?" she asked in the same low voice. "You should be heading to the Underworld for your next journey. This is no longer the place you belong in, so give up all ideas of haunting anyone and move on."

"You don't understand, it's..." the boy looked past Mia, then he frowned slightly. Standing up on the gate, he jumped off the other side.

"Mia! What are you doing?" Annabel called out. Mia shook her head and smiled.

"Nothing," she said, picking up her dropped bag. Had it been wrong of her to be impolite? The boy was not doing any harm... except maybe eavesdropping. He had been nice enough, and he was not floating around being creepy.

Mia knew she hadn't exactly been kind and tactful, but she had had awful experiences before, where every single one of them seemed to be after her. She definitely did not like being haunted by _them_.

Ghosts.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(1) Heaven no Tobira: Heaven's Door. Just the name of a house.

(2) Mizutani Street: 'Water Valley' Street. Just the name of a street.

(3) Omoriki High: A name developed from the kanji of 'omoriki', which means 'power of the mind'. Sort of like psynergy? Name of a school in this case.

(4) Tatami mats: Mats made from thin pieces of wood. Nearly all traditional Japanese houses line the ground with it.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Edited very slightly… for this one isn't so content heavy. More to be edited!


	2. First Book: Chapter II

The Mediator

First Book: Fighting the Living

First of all, I'd like to say something. After I finished plotting and the first chapter, and I went to the library. For fun and curiosity, I typed 'The Mediator' and asked the computer to search. And it turned out that there is a series by the same title, written by Meg Cabot (same author who did 'The Princess Diaries'. I read the book through and realised that many of my interpretations and story thingys were extremely similar to Miss Cabot's.

I DID NOT STEAL THE IDEAS FROM MEG CABOT. It is purely a coincidence that our ideas were so similar. I even thought of discarding this fic because it was too alike Miss Cabot's. But a friend of mine told me that as long as I put up a disclaimer, it'll be fine. After all, many stories obviously reuse the same plot without knowing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. I don't own Hitler either. I don't even want him, ewwww...

EDIT: See chapter 1 for details on editions.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter II

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Mia placed the pile of books at the foot of her mahogany bed and sighed. More than half of her belongings were still waiting in wooden crates that laid around the room. Her piano would only be transported from England and unpacked the next week. Looking at the books, she missed her music even more.

Maybe she could borrow her mother's flute.

"Mia! Come here!"

Mia slid open the doors and ran down the stairs two at a time, wondering why her father was speaking in Japanese at home. When she reached the kitchen, she saw a simple feast of salad and fruits set out neatly on the short-legged wooden table. Both her parents were kneeling awkwardly on flat cushions around the table.

"We've decided that, in order to help Annabel learn Japanese, we'd speak Japanese as much as we can," Brett informed her in Japanese. "So don't cave in when she spouts English!"

"Itadakimasu!" (1) Annabel said cheerfully in an accent much worse than Brett's.

Mia grinned slightly. Life in Japan was going to be unusual, if anything.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Soft notes slid out from the metal flute. Though not as clear and as perfect as they could be, the sound was nevertheless sweet and pleasant.

Mia knew her playing was average, and 'Peaceful Home', a moderately new but extremely popular piece, was not easy. On the whole, however, she was pleased to hear music again. Having memorised the notes, she closed her eyes and stood straight in the middle of her room. Nights in Japan were devoid of noise.

Until she heard a strangled gasp.

The flute left her lips, and she looked up. A young, black haired boy was glaring at her as he sat on the newly white-washed window sill. As his pale face turned to look at her, she saw dried blood matting his hair, leaving a trail on his face. His eyes looked hollow and sunken.

"Don't play that!" he said fiercely. Though he looked younger than Mia, about 10, his furious expression made him seem much older. As if he had been through a lot more.

Mia dropped her flute and stepped backwards. "Don't... what?"

The boy looked taken aback, as if he hadn't expected a reply.

"'Peaceful Home' is mine," he finally replied. "I composed it for my mom. You're not to play it!"

"It's written by Michigawa Ankyo, a famous man," Mia objected. "He published it a year ago."

The boy glared at her. The soft white glow that shone from him turned slightly red and became more intense.

"He stole it!" he shrieked. "He stole it from me! It was for my mother! And now she's all alone and sick, and it's HIS fault!!"

The windows began to rattle, and an unknown chill filled the room.

"Please don't make me do it," Mia whispered. Her hand reached behind her for a silver marker in the pencil case that lay open on her bed. "It doesn't matter who wrote it, all of us just want to enjoy the music!"

"HOW DARE YOU SAY IT DOESN'T MATTER!! It's MY song!!" The boy charged at her, hands stretched out in front of him. Floating, he grabbed her neck in a vice grip and held on with superhuman strength. "It doesn't matter, does it?! It doesn't matter that I'm dead, that my mother's dying?!"

Mia choked, and the silver marker slipped from her fingers, dropping onto the ground with a thud. She raised one hand up towards the ghost. A small, white energy ball emerged slowly from her palm, releasing light static around.

Seeing what she was about to do, the boy released her and floated backwards with a cry. Mia coughed and gingerly touched the reddened finger marks on her neck. The energy ball reached the size of her fist as the ghost began to fade.

And he disappeared. Mia's blast missed and soared out of the window.

Slowly, Mia slid to the ground, still coughing. Her throat felt sore and painful. The next moment, her door opened with a smack, and Brett rushed in.

"Mia! What's the matter? I heard voices!"

_Here we go again... _No one believed her. 'I see dead people' had been on her tongue since she was young, and no one ever listened to her. Her parents told her not to tell lies, and even punished her when she insisted that she was telling the truth. Of course, everyone else believed that she was not sane. Slowly, Mia had learnt to keep secrets close to her heart. No one knew of her abilities and experiences.

Except the ghosts, of course.

"Nothing, Father. I just saw a bat and went slightly berserk," she replied. She hated to lie, but it was necessary. She had even gotten used to it.

"A bat? I wasn't aware that bats lived in Japan," Brett said, looking puzzled.

"Neither did I. That's why I was stunned. Don't you have to start work tomorrow?"

She was good at changing subjects too.

"Yes. Let's hit the hay, then. Good night, dear."

"Good night, Dad."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The Library of Odaiba was large and quiet. That was pleasant. The librarians were friendly. That was pleasant too.

"Michigawa Ankyo? Yes, he was the composer of 'Peaceful Home'," the dimpled brunette said smiling. Her name tag read Aiko. "He died last year, shortly after he published the piece."

That was _not_ pleasant.

"How did he...?"

"No one knows. It was classified as an accident, but... Here, take a look at this." Aiko rammed the keyboard on the computer at locomotive speed, then twisted the monitor around to face Mia. On the screen was the image of a newspaper cutting.

"He was found by his neighbours at the bottom of the stairs in his house. According to the police, he had fallen down the stairs and broke his head. But his blood was found at the bottom of a large, heavy cupboard in the kitchen. At first, people thought that it was murder. But there was no blood trail from the cupboard to the stairs, and besides, the cupboard is so heavy it's nearly unmovable. There were no footprints, fingerprints, or anything."

_Michigawa was holding a torn set of scores of the famous piece 'Peaceful Home'. Psychologists say it might have had some connection with the death. The police, disagree, however, and declared it as 'purely accidental'._

"Thank you." Quietly, Mia exited the library.

She did not like to jump to conclusions, but she was pretty certain that Michigawa Ankyo had somehow stolen the boy's music and claimed it as his own. To get back at him, the ghost of the boy killed him. Parts of the story was still blurred and unclear, but there was one thing Mia was certain of.

Justice needed to be done.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Mia took out the flute with a twinge of fear. Getting strangled at night is one thing. Calling the same attacker back by irritating him the very next night is another.

_Here goes nothing..._ Raising the flute, she blew hard. Mia did not even play past the second bar when the boy appeared beside her.

He scowled as he glared at her.

"You_ again_? Haven't you gotten enough from me yet? You're not to play 'Peaceful Home'! It's mine! Mine, I tell you!!"

"Yes, I know. Would you tell me what happened? Why the sheet music was printed in Michigawa Ankyo's name?" Mia asked calmly. Her heart was threatening to jump out, and it took quite a bit of courage to convince herself to stay where she was.

The boy scowled even more.

"Michigawa was my music teacher. I composed Peaceful Home one night, and I played it to him the next day. He knew it was excellent, so he made me rewrite the scores for him, then killed me and took the sheet music for himself, claiming all the credit and the money that went with it. I wanted revenge, so I hovered his cupboard and knocked him off the stairs, then crushed him with it, and sent it back to the kitchen."

The truth was out. Mia opened her mouth to protest the murder, then remembered that Michigawa had done the same, so she shut it.

"What is your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I want to put your name on the sheet music, to let you have credit for your work," Mia replied. "So, what's your name?"

The boy stared at her in disbelief. "It's Tanaka Jou. But... You're going to do that?"

"It's only fair," Mia said. She smiled at the boy. "Only you have the right to call Peaceful Home your own."

"That means... the money Michigawa received would go to my mom, right? Wouldn't it?!" Jou asked eagerly. "Mom became dreadfully sick after I died, you know, and she needs money for payment. I want her to have the money from the song I composed for her."

Apart from the fact that he tried to strangle her, Mia decided that Jou wasn't a bad kid. He really loved his mother, and sincerely wanted to help her.

"I promise I'll inform Ongakutane about the mistake," Mia said. Ongakutane (2) was the company that published and printed 'Peaceful Home'.

"Make sure you do it." Jou's thin face looked much nicer when he smiled. "I'll be watching."

He teleported off. Mia sat down on the edge of her bed and sighed.

Not all ghosts had been like Jou. Some had attacked her even more ferociously than Jou did, just because they felt like it. Mia remembered previous close shaves with death and shuddered.

The shuddering stopped when someone materialised in front of her, shimmering.

"Jou, I can't go to the company at 9.00pm to..."

She stopped. The ghost was an unfamilliar man with a moustache that reminded Mia of Adolf Hitler from History lesson.

"So... you the mediator, eh?" the man snarled.

"A me... what?"

"If you think you can take the money for 'Peaceful Home' away from my family, you can think again."

Of course. Michigawa Ankyo, who had somehow heard about her promising Jou to inform Ongakutane about his thievery, had come to stop her.

"It's only fair. Credit should be given to the original composer," Mia said firmly. She hated music thieves. Composers work so hard at their work, and someone just claims it and takes all the credit, glory, and pleasure.

"Oh? And do you have any proof?" Michigawa taunted. "You can't prove that I did not write 'Peaceful Home' myself. No one will believe that you spoke with Jou's ghost."

Mia thought fast. "There has to be an original set of scores in Jou's home somewhere. It would have his name on it!"

"But does it matter?" Michigawa asked. He started towards her. Mia shot up and began edging towards the door.

"What do you mean?"

"Jou just got collected through one of those dark holes," Michigawa said gleefully. "So no one will care if my name is on 'Peaceful Home'."

"Jou's mother cares," Mia said, reaching for the doorknob. Michigawa raised one finger.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard one," he said smoothly. Mia found that the knob was stuck. "You will take the draft from Jou's house and burn it. Or else."

"The music belongs rightfully to Jou! It was for his mother! She's ill because you killed her son, and the least you could do is return her money so that she can get the treatment she needs!" Mia gasped, pushing at the door with one hand. The other hand rose towards the ghost.

Michigawa, as if he knew what Mia was about to do, rushed towards her and grabbed her wrists with both his hands and held them above her head.

"Too bad, no more fists," he whispered, grinning maniacally.

"You can't move while holding on, either," Mia hissed, struggling as hard as she could.

"Says who?" Behind them, Mia's empty table began to vibrate violently. "These powers are real useful. Maybe being a ghost isn't that bad."

The table floated swiftly towards the two. Mia struggled harder, but to no avail; the strength of a ghost is not called 'inhuman' for no reason. She squeezed her eyes shut, dreading the worst.

The table never made contact. Mia felt Michigawa's fingers pried off hers, and she looked up.

Someone else was holding Michigawa up by the collar of his shirt with one hand. As Michigawa struggled as hard as Mia had done to return to the ground, his captor spoke.

"Are you all right?" _  
_  
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(1) Itadakimasu : A greeting said before eating.

(2) Ongakutane : Directly translated as 'Music Seed'. I thought more of 'The Seed of Music'. A printing company is where music starts, after all.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

EDIT: Most of the difference done here was to Mia's personality, which I thought was dreadfully OOC.

Daidairo


	3. First Book: Chapter III

The Mediator

First Book – Fighting the Living

And again I edit

Disclaimer: Daidairo doesn't own Golden Sun, and cannot do anything to own it. She's too busy doing last minute packing for 5 days of torture in OBS...

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter III

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Mia stared at him in disbelief. It was the blond ghost from the previous day.

"How... Why..."

"I should be the one asking that," the boy said, effortlessly twisting Michigawa around and pinning his arms to his back. Mia knew that ghosts had supernatural strength, but wasn't Michigawa a ghost as well?

The boy looked up again. "You can see us, even though we're supposed to be invisible to human eye. Why?"

"I... I don't know," Mia replied. Though this ghost had stopped Michigawa from murdering her, his intentions were unclear. What exactly did he want? "I've always been able to see ghosts..."

She broke off as her toppled table shook and rose again. Michigawa was rambling nonstop in phrases Mia had never learnt in during her Japanese lessons, but she could guess that they were colourful. Quickly, she raised her hand and formed an energy ball on her palm. The boy released Michigawa and leaped nimbly out of the way as Mia released the blast.

It hit Michigawa straight in the chest, and a bright light shone before spreading over his body in streams, as if through invisible cracks in his skin. Michigawa cursed as his head began to drip with grey blood, and disappeared with a scowl.

Mia collapsed onto the ground with a sigh. She hated using her power; it was extremely energy consuming. Even though it chased Michigawa off...

_The other ghost!!_

She looked up quickly. He was still standing by the window, staring at her intently. She stared back.

Pale blond hair. Pale blue eyes. Pale, ghostly white skin. Covered by a dull blue shirt and jeans of the dirty grey colour. And the spectral glow that shone from him, causing the paleness that masked his original colouring.

"Interesting. You can see us, as well as use the Energy Blast?" he remarked. Mia raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Is that what it is?"

The ghost laughed and stepped towards her. Suddenly remembering that he could be dangerous, Mia put up her hand.

"Calm down! I'm not here to attack you," the ghost reassured her, holding up both hands as if in surrender. "I just felt that man attacking you, and came to help."

"But… Why did you decide to help me?"

"Do you always need a reason to help someone?" the ghost asked instead.

Taken aback, Mia dropped her hand. "You're... you're not supposed to be here. You're a ghost."

"Actually, I'm not a ghost," he said. Mia's jaw dropped. "I'm a spirit."

"... What?" Mia raised both eyebrows. "There's a difference?"

"Yes. I thought that someone with your ability would know, but apparently not." The spirit sat down on the bed.

"Ghosts are, as you probably know, remnants of parts of humans. When those remnants recover from their destructed state, they become known as spirits. Turning it around, spirits make up a part of every human, and when destroyed, the remnants are called ghosts."

"I see..." Mia thought hard. Then something else clicked. "So what's the difference?"

"Er… Well... Different abilities?"

"What do you mean, different? In what way..." Mia broke off. The spirit's spectral glow was dimming, until only a soft, nearly unnoticeable light remained. His body was no longer bright, but still rather pale.

"In this form, we spirits are visible to human eye. Uh, I mean, normal human eye."

Mia wanted to get annoyed at being referred to as abnormal, but she was confused. "So... you mean ghosts transform into spirits?" Mia asked, looking confused.

"Not exactly transform, but... that's a way of putting it. They revert back to the original spirit form after a hundred years of recovering."

"A _hundred_ years?" Mia stared at the spirit in disbelief. "How old are you?!"

"A hundred and twenty. Well, I was sixteen before I died," the spirit replied as cheerfully as he had been a couple of seconds ago. His death seemed to be nothing but just a passing event to him.

A hundred and twenty was a long time to live. Technically, not live, but still... most ghosts could not cope with the stress of being a living dead being, and surrender to the Underworld.

"So... why are you here? Why aren't you proceeding to the Underworld?" Mia asked.

Ghosts never stayed in the Mortal World. They disappeared to the Underworld, as Mia was told many years ago. The only ghosts who stayed were ones that still had unfinished business to do. Sometimes, that included murdering someone.

"Because I can't bear to leave this world yet," the spirit admitted. "It's a beautiful, mysterious, amazing place... with so much being discovered every minute! Would you believe that when I was born, people didn't have handphones in their pockets? I'd like to stay as long as I can."

"You can choose to stay?"

"So far, the demons haven't ever come after me," the spirit said. "So... I'll just see how things go."

Questions about ghosts, the Underworld and demons flooded Mia's mind. So many questions that will probably go unanswered...

"What are demons?"

"I have no idea. I was told by someone else that they are the ones who drag ghosts into the Underworld."

Mia buried her face in her hands. Life just _had_ to be difficult. It simply refused to be simple. Now there were demons to deal with as well. Mia imagined dark, black shapes with bat wings and luminous red eyes, and shivered.

The spirit moved beside her and knelt down. Mia felt him put a hand on her head, and flinched slightly at the gentle, but cold, touch.

"What's the matter?"

Mia shook her head. "It's nothing," she mumbled.

All the ghosts that Mia had met had gone or been sent to the Underworld. Mia had no idea what she was supposed to do with this one. If she let him stay, he'd be violating the unwritten Laws of Life. But he wasn't doing any harm; she had no reason to send him away. Except the fact that ghosts simply didn't belong.

Only, of course, he would laugh and say that he was a spirit, not a ghost.

"Are you really not going to move to the Underworld?" Mia asked, looking up. Blue eyes stared back at her appraisingly.

"Do you want me to go?"

Under the scrutiny of those eyes, Mia squirmed. She didn't have any right to tell him where to go, or what to do. And he had helped her fend off Michigawa.

"Thank you. For helping me back there."

The spirit stared at her. All of a sudden, he threw back his head and burst out laughing. Mia glared at him, feeling slightly injured. Who on earth would _laugh_ at words of gratitude?

Seeing her face, the spirit gulped and tried to smother his chuckles. Finally quenching the need to release laughter, he bowed slightly.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh. It's just... you changed the subject so suddenly and I didn't know what you were talking about at first."

He was being sincere. And honest. And his laughter was warm and friendly. Mia realised with a jolt that she had missed having someone who trusted her enough not to put on a cold, fake face in front of her. Holding out her hand, she smiled.

"My name is Mia. Mia Quicksilver."

He took the hand and shook it. "I am Isaac."

"You're not Japanese," Mia stated. The appearance did give away that fact, but she wasn't sure.

"Half. My mother's Welsh," Isaac replied. "I..."

A knock sounded on the wood of Mia's door. Isaac glowed and turned paler just before Annabel entered.

"Darling, it's late. You should get some rest," she said in English. Mia wondered if Isaac understood.

"All right. You too," she replied in Japanese, giggling as her mother concentrated to understand what she was saying. As Annabel began hesitantly to repeat Mia's words, Mia sneaked a glance at Isaac. He smiled and raised a hand before he shimmered and disappeared.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

In the morning, Mia took a map and confirmed the location of the headquarters of Ongakutane Company. Directions included taking either taking the subway or the bus, or both, and Mia was on pins and needles for fear that she would get lost. Brett had to go to work, while Annabel was busy managing the unpacking of their belongings. So a map and average language skills were the only things Mia could depend on.

Odaiba was a busy place, filled with people moving in crowds along and across the streets. In all directions. Mia managed to reach the bus stop and squeeze into a seat, and decided that she would _not_ attempt to jump onto the subway yet.

Fortunately, the bus stopped near the building of the company. Mia squeezed herself out of the cramped bus and crossed two car-filled roads to the building.

Fountains shaped like quaver notes stood along the pathway to the main entrance. Mia wandered quietly down the path, eyeing the short grass with approval. Buildings without plants made her feel awkward and ill at ease.

The automatic doors slid open as Mia approached, and she entered to see a finely built oak counter. A dark haired woman dressed in deep mauve smiled at her.

"May I help you?"

"Oh yes; I'm afraid there's been a big mistake." Mia quickly explained what Michigawa had done to Jou, carefully keeping the details of their afterlife hidden. The woman listened intently, then shook her head at the end.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we cannot change the credits. There is no proof that Michigawa Ankyo was not the composer of the piece."

"But Jou..."

"Has never appeared in the musical world. I find it hard to believe that a nobody would suddenly write a piece of music that becomes so well-received throughout the world."

Mia sighed. Like Michigawa had said previously, she had no evidence to show.

Thanking the woman, she exited the building.

Somehow, she had to put Jou's name on 'Peaceful Home'. It wasn't right for Michigawa to steal the music and claim it as his own.

Mia entered the cafe beside Ongakutane and sat down with a glass of orange juice. She thought over the possible solutions:

(A) Lie and say that she saw what Michigawa did.  
(B)Write an anonymous note demanded credit and threatening death.  
(C) Force a confession out of Michigawa's family.  
(D) Tell the truth about the ghosts.  
(E) Cry.

C seemed to be the best solution, but it probably wouldn't work. Especially if the family knew nothing about his doings. She couldn't search for the original script of the piece, because she had no idea where Jou lived.

And she couldn't ask Jou. He had been taken to the Underworld, Michigawa said...

Mia placed her head on the table between her arms. "What do I do next...?" she moaned.

"Find a way to convince everyone that Tanaka Jou is the original composer."

Mia pulled her head up.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

More personality changes, both on Isaac and Mia.

Daidairo


	4. First Book: Chapter IV

The Mediator

First Book – Fight the Living

EDIT: And again I edit.

Other random news include: Choral Festival was FUN. Go everyone from Choral Fest!! And I hate my teachers, really.

Note: I know some people don't enjoy fluff, but as romance is the main genre rather than side genre of this fic, and also because the person it's dedicated to asked for fluff, it will be added.

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. If you want to sue someone, sue my teachers for giving me lousy results.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter IV

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Isaac slid into the rectangular wooden chair opposite her and leaned his elbows on the table, clasping his fingers together. He looked exactly the same as he did the previous day, with a blue shirt and grey jeans.

"Where did you appear from?" Mia asked. Isaac ignored her question.

"I was wondering what that strange man was doing with you yesterday, and after hearing what you said to that lady just now..."

"You were eavesdropping," Mia accused.

"... I understand why you promised to help. But it's not going to be easy, unless we can find where Tanaka Jou's mother lives."

"Yes, I know! That's why I'm in a terrible state!" Mia moaned. She hid her face behind her fingers and sighed. A thought occurring to her suddenly, she asked, "How long have you been following me?"

Isaac shifted guiltily. "Since you left the house."

Mia felt stiff. "I appreciate your concern, but I like working alone. Please try to remember that I have a life."

Silence.

Isaac unclenched his hands and stood up.

Too late, Mia realised what she had just said. _Darn! _"I... I didn't mean that..." Mia stammered. "I wasn't trying to kick you about the death part, what I meant was..."

"No, you're right. I shouldn't be sticking around here interfering. I'm sorry." Eyes unreadable, head bent, Isaac turned to go.

"Wait, I..."

"Search for Michigawa's family members. They might know where Tanaka used to live, or at least have a reccord of him among Michigawa's students."

Abruptly, he disappeared, leaving Mia to stare at air.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Mia's next destination was the library of Odaiba again. Her fingers shook as she typed in letters for the search engine on a computer.

She had really been mean to Isaac. She had not meant to hurt him, but being irritated had affected her language. She wanted to say that she had lived her life alone, and liked to be on her own, but her grasp of Japanese wasn't as good as she had thought it was.

Her social skills were elementary, but it was not an excuse. Thinking as she rode on the bus to the library, she had realised that her words must have been painful to Isaac. Who had helped her so much before, and still tried to help her by suggesting ideas. Ungrateful must be her unknown middle name.

Her finger paused above a link. 'Michigawa Kyo'. He was trying to help her find a solution, and all she did was call him a busybody. Mia clicked, and another window popped up.

'Yuuki (1) Church Band has been performing in cathedrals and churches all over Japan and certain European countries. Conducted by Michigawa Kyo, younger brother of the famous Michigawa Ankyo..."

Mia clicked on the 'address' page of the site. She owed Isaac words of gratitude. As well as words of apology.

Grabbing a blue ballpoint pen from a Dalmantian pencil holder beside the monitor, Mia tore off a piece of notepaper attached to the same pencil holder and scribbled the address down.

Closing all windows, Mia hurried to the librarian and asked for directions.

Somehow she had to find Isaac to apologise. But would he ever appear before her again?

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Yuuki Church was two hours of bus down the roads. Mia fretted through the whole two hours about whether Michigawa Kyo would help her, as well as how she would be able to find Isaac again.

Worrying, she hopped down the bus and eyed the clean yellow church before her. The structure was beautiful, with intricate designs, but Mia barely gave herself time to observe. She ran into the church and was greeted by a band practicing in the main hall.

_What luck!_

She scanned the place for a conductor, but the only other person not in uniform was a female pastor sitting on a bench. Mia approached her.

"Excuse me, may I know if Mr Michigawa Kyo is around?"

The woman shook her head regretfully. "I'm afraid he left an hour ago," she replied.

_What luck._ "Oh, I see. Would you happen to have his address?"

The woman smiled and took out a teal file from her bag. She began flipping through it, asking, "Are you intending to burn down his house?"

"N-No! Of course not!" Mia said hastily. "I'm not planning anything illegal."

The file was held up. Every plastic page was filled with small, rectangular cards, with particulars of members of the band. The topmost card on the left had a 'CONDUCTOR' tape on the top, with the name and address of 'Michigawa Kyo' beneath it.

Mia took out her crumpled notepaper and prepared to scribble. Her eyes fell on the card below the conductor's.

'Tanaka Jou, Male. Flutist. Membership number 3066492...'

The address was taken down. Mia bowed gratefully and left. As if she were a train, a single message played over in her mind.

"Next stop... The house of Tanaka..."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

An empty stomach, how to help Mrs Tanaka and Isaac filled Mia's mind. She hesitated at the small, cramped flat apartment entrance. 'Tanaka' in kanji was carved into a piece of wood nailed near the rusty metal gate.

Breathing hard, she knocked. There was no answer. As Mia waited, she noticed a bottle of milk on the topmost step in front of the door. A tag on it stated 'Standing Order'._ Could Mrs Tanaka be still asleep?_ Mia glanced at her watch. It was three in the afternoon.

A feeling of dread welled up within Mia. It was unexplainable, but she knew that something was wrong. Banging hard on the door with one hand through metal bars and rattling the gate with the other, Mia waited in vain for a response.

Standing back, she raised a hand and created what Isaac called the 'Energy Blast'. The lock on the gate was blown off, and a small hole the size of a bowling ball appeared in the wood. Mia thumped the side of her body hard against the wood after she threw open the metal gate. Weakened by the hole and numerous cracks, the door collapsed. Mia hurried in.

A large blue cupboard stood on its side, lying above a pair of feet. Blood soaked the rug beneath the feet.

Mia screamed. A piece of cloth twisted itself over Mia's mouth and tied a tight knot. Her hands were clenched and held behind her back.

"This will teach you, meddling mediator! You should just give up!"

_Michigawa Ankyo! _Mia struggled with her bonds as the dead musician tore down curtains from the window and bound her tightly to a sofa. Michigawa disappeared and reappeared with a can of vegetable in one hand and a lighted sheet of newspaper in the other. His chest was grey and translucent where Mia had hit him with her Energy Blast the night before.

Her closed fingers couldn't allow the formation of an Energy Blast, and she watched helplessly as a crackling fire started up. Michigawa teleported away with a maniacal smirk.

The flames rose higher and licked at the ceiling. Fumes choked Mia's lungs. Hours seemed to pass before her eyelids fluttered. Something shimmered in front, and she saw nothing more.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Groggily, Mia blinked. A masked face was staring down at her intently.

"Thank goodness you're alive, lady!" he exclaimed.

He was dressed in the green long sleeved fireproof coat of Odaiba's firefighting team, and as Mia glanced about her, she found herself on a gravel path outside the flat where Jou had lived, with many other firemen dressed in the same gear running about, shouting to each other. The room was smoking visibly, but the flames seemed to be under control. A crowd of inquisitive passers-by gathered behind a safety barrier to spread rumours about how the fire started.

"Why... am I here?" Mia croaked. Her throat was dry from the smoke and heat, and she faintly remembered being gagged and bound inside the Tanaka apartment. The fireman handed her a bottle of water, and she drank greedily.

"We found you unconscious in the void deck," the fireman said, pointing. "You must have been half suffocated during your escape, and fainted. Can't you remember any of it?"

Mia shook her head. She was pretty sure that she had not escaped on her own, on account of the gag and binds.

_So what actually happened?_

One thing she was sure of. The original script of Peaceful Home must have been destroyed. Probably with Mrs Tanaka. Her spirits sank when a stretcher was pulled out of the building with a white cloth laid on top of it.

Tears came to Mia's eyes. She promised Jou that credits would be given to him, that she would help his mother. Yet she failed. If she had acted earlier, Michigawa wouldn't have gotten to Mrs Tanaka.

_It's all my fault..._

Dumbly, Mia got up and walked off. Oblivious to the concerned calls of the fireman, Mia's feet put themselves one in front of another.

The sky was darkening. Pangs of hunger and fatigue were gnawing at Mia, but she continued moving.  
_  
It's all my fault..._

Thump thump.__

It's all my fault...

Mia sank to her knees. Unknowingly, she had reached a small beach. The tide was rising, and the sound of the waves crashing down on the beach rhythmically pulsed in her ears, and her emotions began spilling out.

She covered her face and allowed the tears to fall. Sobbing and crying, she recalled Jou's happy face when he learned that she was going to help him. She recalled the burning building, which destroyed the original manuscript of Peaceful Home. She recalled the stretcher.

Jou had trusted her to help. But she had let him down, had allowed Michigawa to escape with his crimes, which can never be uncovered now. Guilt laced her heart, squeezing it painfully and bringing forth another flood of tears.

None of it would have happened if she had not interfered, Mia realised suddenly in horror. Jou's mother wouldn't have received payment for Peaceful Home, but at least she would still be alive. Mia's tears refused to stop flowing.

Gently, cool fingers touched her shoulders. Gulping, Mia looked up, and Isaac stared sorrowfully back at her. His blue eyes never looked darker.

"It's not your fault," he whispered.

"You were there...?" Mia said dully. Isaac nodded. _He must have appeared and pulled me out... that's what the shimmery disturbance was...  
_  
"Don't blame yourself for what happened. Michigawa Ankyo is ruthless. There was nothing you could do," Isaac insisted. "You put yourself in danger to try. Jou would understand if he was here."

Hearing that, Mia broke down again. Jou would never be here again. Isaac put his arms around her and patted her soothingly.

"But... I said I would help!! I couldn't!" she choked.

"You did your best. And now... Jou can be with his mother again..."

Drawing comfort from the cold but kind embrace, Mia's sobs ceased slowly, and she leaned her head on Isaac's shoulder.

The waves were lapping quietly at the sand. After the storm, the calm...

"It's getting late. You should head for home before your parents get too worried," Isaac whispered against her blue hair. Mia lifted her head. Isaac wiped her tear-stained cheek lightly, and even though his body no longer radiated any heat, Mia felt warmth spreading from her face within her. Nodding, she looked around her.

"Where... is this place?" she asked uncertainly. Isaac turned and motioned for her to get on his back. Surprised, Mia slipped her arms around his neck as he put both hands below her legs, at the back of her knees. They rose into the air, and with wind whipping at the solid body and passing through the matterless soul, the spirit flew them through the night sky back to Mizutani Street.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Where have you been?" Annabel fretted. Worry had made her speak in her well versed English. "We've been so worried! It's nearly nine o'clock!"

Mia bowed her head in apology. Brett's stern expression softened, and he patted his daughter's shoulder.

"Go have your dinner. You must be hungry. We'll hear all about it later."

Silently, Mia padded off to the kitchen as her parents sat down to Have-A-Talk. Having eaten nothing for a good many hours, food was extremely inviting, and raised her feelings slightly.

And it was during dinner that she developed her plan. Swallowing enough food to make her complaining stomach satisfied, Mia picked up her mother's flute and a silver coloured paint marker from her bedroom.

Moving past sliding doors, Mia made her way into the garden. The stone bridge across the pond was flat, and Mia put down her flute. The silver marker began to trace a circle on the stone.

Mrs Nickerson had given her the book with the necessary markings a long time ago, and having drawn it several times, the image was fixed in her mind. Each stroke was precise and clear, and soon silver circles, pentagons, stars and other lines had filled the little bridge.

Mia slipped the marker into her packet and raised the flute to her lips. Notes of 'Peaceful Home' floated out tensely, and before many bars had passed, Michigawa materialised before her.

"I already told you, Jou's gone," he sneered. "No amount of music can bring him back!"

He was standing in front of her, right where she wanted him; directly on the silver circle that was barely visible in the darkness. Mia raised both hands until her arms were straight out at shoulder level, parallel to the ground. Her palms were turned to face Michigawa, forming a right angle at the wrist with her forearm. Silver light shone from every fingertip, and Mia then brought her arms to the side, leaving traces of silver arches hanging in the air. Swirling the light around with actions familiar to her, Mia ended with her arms drawn in, one hand above the other, with her palms facing each other.

"What... what the hell are you doing?!" Michigawa demanded. Mia did not answer. The arches in the air shimmered and moved, then flowed towards Mia's slightly cupped hands, covering both palms in a thin layer. Mia slammed her hands onto the ground in a swift movement, with her fingers touching the edge of the circle.

The lines of the circle shone out with rays of silver light.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(1) Yuuki: Courage. Random name for a church.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Daidairo


	5. First Book: Chapter V

The Mediator

First Book: Fighting the Living

I realise that it has been over 2 years since I first started this. And it's not done. Of course, being human, I have a lot of excuses, some of it being laziness, the fact that I'm currently in the middle of very VERY important exams, but mainly, it is due to the constant loss of my original draft of "The Mediator". First it disappeared, then I found it stuck in a cupboard, goes through a lot... then gets burnt at a barbecue. I'm serious.

Nevertheless, I decided to replan and replot nearly the entire thing. I've had the chance to read Meg Cabot's full series, and I'm pleased to say that my ideas don't sound that connected to hers anymore. Yay for originality!

I have edited the previous four chapters briefly, to keep Isaac and Mia in character (I am quite appalled at my OOCness). Also, I have removed all unneccessary Japanese from the text, because it's a pain to have to scroll down and up (and receive a lot of unwanted spoilers). The characters are still speaking in different languages at different times, however, and I will specify when it is important to know which. For example, check the part in Chapter IV where Mia makes a mistake in her language skills.

Which brings me to the last edit: I am letting the characters keep their English names. ;

Disclaimer: Daidairo still doesn't own Golden Sun, after so many years. Bad luck, of course.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

_He was standing in front of her, right where she wanted him; directly on the silver circle that was barely visible in the darkness. Mia raised both hands until her arms were straight out at shoulder level, parallel to the ground. Her palms were turned to face Michigawa, forming a right angle at the wrist with her forearm. Silver light shone from every fingertip, and Mia then brought her arms to the side, leaving traces of silver arches hanging in the air. Swirling the light around with actions familiar to her, Mia ended with her arms drawn in, one hand above the other, with her palms facing each other._

"What... what the hell are you doing?!" Michigawa demanded. Mia did not answer. The arches in the air shimmered and moved, then flowed towards Mia's slightly cupped hands, covering both palms in a thin layer. Mia slammed her hands onto the ground in a swift movement, with her fingers touching the edge of the circle.

The lines of the circle shone out with rays of silver light.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter V

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Michigawa cried out as the light engulfed him. He tried to run, but his feet seemed to be stuck to the ground, and as he struggled to get away from the shining circle, chains of silver light formed all over his body, restraining him. The harder he struggled, the tighter the chains seemed to become, and as the musician released a stream of unintelligible curses, he began to be dragged downwards, as if the silver circle was a large, white hole.

Mia kept her hands on the ground, but her eyes never left the screaming ghost. Light continued to flow from her fingers to the circle, then upwards. The girl watched silently as Michigawa was drawn all the way down, until only his head was above ground. Michigawa released one long, unearthly shriek before he disappeared with chains, light, and the silver circle.

Mia got up, breathing unsteadily. It had been some time since she last exorcised a ghost, and her body was unused to the large amount of energy that the ritual required. She hoped she never _would_ get used to it.

She picked up her silver marker and Annabel's flute and entered the house, an unreadable expression on her face as her conscience chided her for performing the task too late.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Looking about her with quiet interest, Mia's eyes took in the old wooden pillars, whitewashed walls, bright posters and chattering students. Dressed in Omoriki High's black and gold uniform, students aged 12 to 18 swarmed the corridors in crowds.

She could sense a few eyes staring at her blue hair and non-Asian face, but it seemed that Omoriki was lenient on hair colour; pinks, purples and greens nested on quite a few heads.

Her own blue hair was natural. When she was young, she had asked her parents why nobody else seemed to have blue-green hair like hers. Brett and Annabel had explained that it was a non-harmful mutation in her genes. Still, Mia felt thankful that she would not have any trouble with dye-detesting teachers that might refuse to believe her words.

The school was arranged in an organised manner; seventh and eighth grades on the second level, ninth and tenth grades on the third, eleventh and twelth on the fourth. Mia founded her designated classroom, 11-A, without much difficulty, and slid into a single empty seat by the window. Most of her new classmates were yakking away to each other, taking no notice of her, and Mia took the chance to observe her surroundings.

It was not long, however, before the sharp point of a pencil was poking her in the back. She turned. A brown-haired girl was eyeing her with curiosity sparkling in her bright eyes.

"Are you foreign? Can you understand me?" she asked in Japanese. Though she seemed to have a strange accent that Mia had never heard before, she had no problem understanding her words. (1)

"I'm from England. Yes, I understand your speech; I learnt it before I came here," she replied. The girl threw back her head and laughed. Yellow ribbons were tied around a few locks of her hair, and they bounced merrily as she moved.

"Oh, come on! The only time you should use formal words is in exams, or with certain teachers! Lighten up a bit!" she said, grinning. "I'm Chaucha. Your name?"

"I am Mia Quicksilver. Pleased to meet you."

"Why did you choose to dye your hair blue?"

Before Mia could reply, a young lady sailed into the room to greet the class. Chaucha gave a lopsided smile and stood.

As Mia rose to her feet, she felt warm with happiness at the friendliness of the Japanese. Chaucha was nice, bubbly and bright, and she didn't seem to think that Mia was a strange introvert that should be left alone.

It wasn't long before she changed her mind. _Humans cannot be generalised,_ Mia thought with a sigh. Quite a few students, mostly girls, had been rather loud with their opinions of unnatural-coloured hair dye and foreigners.

"Don't mind them," a large, red headed young man said distastefully, as Erisa Koi walked off with her nose in the air. "They think all foreign people stink. Bet they've never taken a sniff at themselves."

Mia smiled at his words. She glanced at the grinning boy standing leisurely next to her. "Are you from somewhere else, too?"

"Course! Look at this volcano!" he replied, pointing to his explosive red hair. It seemed to go against the very laws of gravity, standing in spikes that seemed to suggest tubes of hair gel. It was, as he said, a volcano. "It's natural, unlike Miss Fish's brown glossy locks." (2)

They laughed.

"I'm Mia Quicksilver, from England," Mia said.

"Garet Jerra, from America. Nice to meet ya," the youngster said in English. They shook hands, and as the next teacher walked in, they returned to their seats.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

By the time lessons ended for the day, Mia had made the acquaintance of all in the class. Some, like Koi, seemed to dislike her immensely, some were coldly indifferent, but the rest were polite and rather friendly. So Mia left the classroom with a smile on her face.

She made for the choir room on the fifth floor, knowing that auditions would be starting soon. She wondered if the difference between Japan choirs and British choirs were large. If the sound quality expected was different, she might not pass the auditions. But it would be fun to try a different singing style.

As she pushed open the door to the choir room, she felt a pair of eyes turn to fix upon her. A lone woman sat behind the grand piano. She smiled at Mia.

"Are you here to audition for the choir?" she asked. Mia nodded. "But the dismissal bell rang only a few minutes ago. You're not going to have a short tea break first? Auditions begin in half an hour, after all."

"It's fine, Sensei. (3) I'm not hungry, and I wanted to come straight here," Mia said shyly. She wondered if this pretty brown haired lady was the teacher-in-charge, or the conductor.

"In that case, let us begin. My name is Mikage Kushinada. Please come here and stand beside the piano." (4)

Mia obeyed, observing Kushinada quietly. The woman had long strawberry brown hair, a sweet face and a calm expression. Her slender fingers were caressing the wooden keys of the piano before she pressed them down gently. C major chord.

"Please sing this to 'la'," Kushinada instructed. She played the tonic note, the third note, the fifth note, then third again, and finally the tonic.

Opening her mouth, Mia breathed in deeply, then sang as instructed. The room's accoustics were excellent, and her clear, vibrant voice rang out. Kushinada's pale brown eyes widened, and she smiled. She played a minor octave on E, and again Mia followed, bright, in tune, and sweet.

"You have sang before." It was not a question. Mia nodded.

"I was a soprano in my previous choir."

"How long have you been training?"

"Three years, Miss Mikage."

"Please, call me Kushinada. 'Miss Mikage' makes me feel like an old teacher, and I am merely the choir conductor," Kushinada said with a wry smile. "Your voice is lovely. I would be honoured if you would join our choir. Practices are held every Monday and Thursday. I hope you will agree?"

Mia breathed a sigh of relief. Kushinada had barely tested her the basics, and she had been expecting more difficult tasks. She nodded.

"Thank you for letting me join the choir, Kushinada. My name is Mia Quicksilver," she said, bowing low. Kushinada rose and bowed as well.

"The pleasure is mine, Mia. Thank you for your time. You may go now."

_First day,_ Mia thought as she picked up her bag, _has been very enjoyable._

She liked her teachers, she liked most of her classmates, and she liked her choir conductor.

Her smile dropped as a black haired man with a black moustache sailed past her, emitting a white glow. He leered unpleasantly at Kushinada before he flew to sit on the window. He did not seem to have noticed that Mia could see him, did not seem to feel her eyes on his cruel expression.

The blue haired girl bit her lip. She made up her mind quickly as a few students entered, greeting Kushinada. These must be the choir members. As long as they were present, Kushinada would be safe, whatever this ghost's intentions were. As the students stared curiously at Mia, she exited the room, heading for the school gates and towards home as fast as she could.__

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
_  
_Her heart beating heavily, Mia ran as fast as she could. Her feet thudded on the pavement as she raced back to school, her silver marker clutched tightly in her hand. As she slid to a stop in front of the school gate, she saw a figure resembling Kushinada walking out of the side gate. The black haired ghost was following her.

Panic rising, Mia ran around the brick walls surrounding the school and sprinted towards the two. But it had rained earlier, and the earth was wet. Mia slipped and slid on the mud and grass as she tried to move. With a sinking heart, she saw Kushinada turn a corner and walk out of sight.

"Kushinada!" she cried as loudly as could. More convinced than ever that the ghost wished to do Kushinada harm, she feared for the conductor's safety. When she reached the end of the muddy, grassy patch, she sped round the corner that Kushinada had gone.

The woman was still walking on. There was no sign of the black haired ghost. Silence filled the whole street as Kushinada walked further down.

A great stone lifted off Mia's shoulders, and she collapsed onto the ground with relief. Yet, at the same time, she felt puzzled. Why had the black haired man disappeared? Had she been wrong about him wanting to harm Kushinada?

No, that could not be. She had not imagined that wicked sneer. Why would he have given up his target and disappeared? The street before her was empty, except for Kushinada, and no one would be around to save her. Had he noticed Mia, and worried that she would be a threat?

That was not possible either. He had no idea that Mia could see him, or could put up defenses against him. He could not have heard her scream for Kushinada either, for Kushinada herself had not stopped.

The more Mia thought about it, the more puzzled she became. Who was the ghost? Why was he after Kushinada? Had he gone for good?

Rising to her feet, she decided to find out more.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Miss Mikage?" the dark eyed clerk squinted suspiciously. "Of course she's not here today. She only comes on choir days."

"May I know where she lives then?" Mia asked.

"Now, what kind of privacy would our coaches have if we gave their addresses to every abominable student that asks for them? You trying to spray paint her walls with graffiti?"

"No, I just, I... I'm a transfer student joining the choir, and I wanted to talk to Kushi- Miss Mikage about... what is expected and all..."

"You can ask your seniors or wait till Thursday for that. Now go to your lessons," the clerk ordered.

Disappointed, Mia exited the general office. As she walked towards the staircases, she felt something stirring behind her. Turning to look, she jumped at the sight of Isaac walking leisurely next to her.

"Please don't materialise so suddenly. You made me jump," she complained, stopping. Isaac lifted a finger to his lips.

"You don't want anyone else to hear you speaking to me," he said. Too late, Mia remembered where she was. Several students were already eyeing her strangely. Feeling her face grow hot, Mia lowered her head and walked on as fast as she could.

"The day just gets worse," she murmured. Isaac was still walking beside her, matching her speed with lesser strides due to his height. Though she knew that if he wanted to, he could simply float.

"Did something happen to you?" Isaac asked gently. Mia slowed her brisk trot to a walk, sighing as she did so. Isaac turned and began to walk backwards in front of Mia, staring at her face. "With that face you're showing, anyone can tell without spying on you that something is troubling you."

"I... I didn't mean to say that the other day," Mia muttered. It had been more than a week since they last met, and she had been trying to think of an appropriate apology. Isaac followed her simply because he was worried about her, not because he wanted to spy on her; and even after her hurtful words to him, he showed up to save her from burning to death. Mia knew that it was her fault, but for some reason, the apologies she wanted to say died on her lips.

Isaac shook his head, giving her a slightly melancholic smile. "You had every right to say it. I will never follow you around without your consent again. Now will you tell me what's wrong?"

Students coming from the opposite direction were walking through Isaac without a glance at either of them. The sight was disconcerting, but Mia managed to concentrate on telling her story.

She told the spirit about the ghostly happenings that had occurred since her meeting Kushinada. She told him of her suspicions regarding why the black haired ghost had disappeared. By the time her whispers were done, they had reached her classroom on the fourth floor.

"I'll see if I can help somehow. Don't spend your whole day worrying about it, all right?" said Isaac. Mia nodded.

"Thank you for worrying with me," she said, inclining her head in a slight bow. Then she wondered if she should have bowed more deeply, as Japanese customs indicated, but Isaac had already raised a hand in farewell and was dematerialising.

A few seconds after the blue eyed spirit disappeared, Garet poked his head around the classroom door.

"Oh, it's you, Mia. What are you doing standing there?" he asked with a big grin. Mia smiled and bowed. As she entered the classroom, she noticed Garet continue to peer outside the classroom for a few seconds, and wondered if he could hear the teacher coming.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"This way," Isaac instructed as he flew ahead. Mia tried to move as briskly as she could without seeming to run, so as not to draw attention to herself.

"Did you find out why that man wanted to kill Kushinada?" she asked.

"I'm not too sure of the details, actually. All I learned was that he fought with Mikage Kushinada's admirer, Susa, on a cliff one night, and fell to his death. It was classified as an accident, which means that Kushinada and Susa escaped without human notice," Isaac replied. They turned a corner and continued uphill.

Mia began to feel weary. "Weren't there any fingerprints or skin cells left on the man's body by Susa or Kushinada?"

Isaac looked surprised, then shook his head slowly. "The one whom I received all this information from said that someone else was protecting Susa and Kushinada. That someone else wiped away all evidence."

"Is that even possible?" Mia looked dubious. "I mean, there has to be some trace..."

"Maybe it would be impossible for human hands, but there is a lot of 'impossible things' that souls can do," Isaac stated. Mia breathed deeply as comprehension dawned on her. They stopped in front of a tiny but neat traditional house.

"Here we go," Mia lifted her fist and knocked three times on the door. There was no response, and she tried again, much louder.

The wooden door slid open suddenly, and a dark eyed man looked out. He had long brown hair and a rash expression, which turned to a scowl as he saw Mia standing there.

"What do you want?"

"Um... I'm looking for Kushinada. I'm in her choir. I came to ask a her a few things, you see, and..."

"Susa? Who is it?" Kushinada appeared at the man's elbow, then looked startled at the sight of Mia.

"Good afternoon, Kushinada. I hope you don't mind me visiting without an invitation," Mia said, bowing deeply. Kushinada smiled warmly.

"Not at all. Please come in."

Susa stepped aside to let Mia enter, but he continued eyeing the blue haired girl with mistrust.

"He doesn't seem very friendly," Isaac commented, floating through the door that Susa had immediately slid shut. Mia shrugged, wondering if this 'Susa' was really a killer who had caused the death of the black haired man.

Kushinada led Mia to the sitting room and invited her to sit on a cushion. Pouring bowls of green tea, she sat down opposite Mia.

"I must say that I'm surprised at your turning up here," she said. "Please excuse Susa's grumpy manner. We're not very used to having visitors here."

"Do the two of you live here alone?" Mia asked, wondering how to start on the subject of the black haired man.

"No- I mean, yes. Not at first, but now..." Kushinada's eyes took on a faraway look. Her sweet smile had disappeared, leaving her expression quiet and sad. "This house belonged to my foster sister Uzume. She took Susa and I, both unwanted orphans, into her care when we were still children. She took care of us like we were her blood siblings, and we've lived here together for many years."

She shook her head. "Oh dear. I'm so sorry. I'm sure you didn't come to hear about my life story..."

"Did... something happen to your sister?" Mia asked quietly. Kushinada dropped her hands and looked down.

"She was killed."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(1) Chaucha speaks the Kansai accent.

(2) Koi means 'carp' in Japanese. Erisa Koi's name is written with a more... elegant kanji that does not mean carp, but Garet calls her fish anyway.

(3) Sensei - Teacher.

(4)Kushinada - Bracelet of the Open Sea  
Mikage - The mountain where Kushinada was kept in the game. I used it for her surname in here. Kanji for 'mikage' means 'moon shadow'.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

A special cookie to anyone who can guess who the black haired man is. He is an official character of Golden Sun. And one who harbours evil intentions XD

Review, please!

Daidairo  
15/10/07


	6. First Book: Chapter VI

The Mediator

First Book: Fighting the Living

Yes, I am still in the middle of exams, and I should really, really be studying, but I got hooked on replaying Golden Sun. And writing fanfics naturally follows. And after that I play some more. This is called the vicious cycle of games and fanfiction.

I know that this fic is likely to be unread now, as I infer from the number of hits of the previous chapter, the lack of reviews, as well as the observation that the GS section at is rarely visited or updated.

Still, for the few who are still holding on to this fic, I thank you! And I'll continue writing! Even if only two or three remain that wish to read this, I won't give up on Golden Sun. As seen at a recent interview, Camelot wishes to make Golden Sun 3!! The Takahashi brothers themselves love Golden Sun!!

So let's rejoice! Golden Sun forever!

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. I do own the spirit Isaac. And his ghostly yellow scarf. XD

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 

_"Do the two of you live here alone?" Mia asked, wondering how to start on the subject of the black haired man._

"No- I mean, yes. Not at first, but now..." Kushinada's eyes took on a faraway look. Her sweet smile had disappeared, leaving her expression quiet and sad. "This house belonged to my foster sister Uzume. She took Susa and I, both unwanted orphans, into her care when we were still children. She took care of us like we were her blood siblings, and we've lived here together for many years."

She shook her head. "Oh dear. I'm so sorry. I'm sure you didn't come to hear about my life story..."

"Did... something happen to your sister?" Mia asked quietly. Kushinada dropped her hands and looked down.

"She was killed."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 

Chapter VI

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 

"Killed," Kushinada repeated, her voice shaky. "They said it was an accident, but I know he had something to do with it."

Mia shifted next to the older woman and put an arm around her comfortingly. "Why don't you start from the beginning?" she said gently. Her warm embrace seemed to calm Kushinada, and she sighed.

"Uzume was a lawyer. Three months ago, she took on a case for embezzlement. Her client was a man she called Dodonpa. Once, he came over here to discuss the case with Uzume. But he... just as he was leaving, he saw me, and... and he..."

"He took an interest in you," Mia guessed. _Is Dodonpa that black-haired ghost?_

"Yes... oh yes, he did. Uzume became very angry, and she warned him. She said that if he ever dared to come near me, she would throw his case to the dogs, and his company would be ruined. The very next day, she died," Kushinada gulped. "She had gone up a hill to another client, and her car had fallen over the edge of a cliff. The police said it was an accident, that the roads were slippery that day, and the fences were old and unsafe. But I know Dodonpa had something to do with it! Once Uzume was out of his way, her company assigned someone else to his case, and he won. He must have done something... to cause her death..."

She began to cry softly, tears rolling down her cheeks. Mia felt pangs of guilt as she hugged Kushinada. If she hadn't asked so many questions, Kushinada wouldn't have had to recall all these depressing memories.

But something else nagged at her. An uneasy feeling, about Kushinada. Her eyes were filled with something else other than simple sorrow, and it was much harder to face.

"I'm so sorry," Mia whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't be. It's not your fault..." Kushinada murmured. Then she gave a start. "It... it was mine. She was trying to protect me from him, and because of that, she was..."

"Kushinada...?" Mia pulled back to look at her.

She did not seem to see Mia beside her; with a glazed look in her eyes, her body shaking hard, her words broken and soft, she seemed to be speaking to herself.

"She's always taken care of me. Yet I caused her to die. She was still so young, she shouldn't have died!" With a sob, Kushinada buried her face in her hands. "If it weren't for me, Uzume would still be alive! If I didn't exist, if only I didn't exist..."

"Kushinada! It's not your fault!" Mia cried out. Her heart was filled with pain for the musician. The loss of a beloved sister was hard. The feeling of guilt that she harboured, thinking that she caused her sister's death... made it even more difficult to endure.

Kushinada must have been pushing all those feelings down, running away, refusing to think about anything. She was afraid that it was really her fault that Uzume died. Now that Mia had caused her to think about what happened, she cried about her loss, her mistake, and her guilt.

_But it's not her fault! She didn't cause her sister's death!_

Kushinada turned her tear-streaked face to the young girl. "How can you say that? If I were never born..."

"Uzume would never experience the joy of having a sister by her side," Mia said. "She loved you, Kushinada. She must have known it was dangerous to pit herself against Dodonpa. But she did it. She did it for you."

"And because of that, she's... she's...!"

"She wanted to keep you safe and happy."

Kushinada stopped, staring at Mia with stunned, wide eyes. Mia took her hands and squeezed them gently.

"Uzume wanted you to be happy, no matter what happens to her. She cared more for your well-being than hers. So would you mope and cry, blaming yourself for a crime you didn't commit? Or would you cherish her sacrifice, and fulfill her wish by continuing to live on happily?"

Kushinada looked down. Her sobs had ceased, and she stared silently at the floor. Mia's words had triggered so many thoughts in her mind, and inadvertently, she remembered Uzume's smiling face.

_"Kushinada..."_

"My dear sister..."

"I want you to be happy." 

Mia wondered if she had gone too far. _Maybe I should have sympathised with her instead? But... no, I couldn't. She was trapped in sorrow, and I had to shake her out of it! But... did I do the right thing?  
_  
"Kushinada?" she asked, rather timidly. Kushinada pulled her hands from Mia's grasp.

Then she wiped away the tears from her eyes. Slowly, she smiled.

"You're right. I have been a fool. Uzume must have felt so worried about me when she looked down from Heaven at me, seeing me wallow in self-pity. I can't cause her any more grief, can I?" Kushinada said gently looking upwards. "I'll move on, sister. For your sake. I'll have a happy life for both of us."

Mia did not know if Heaven existed. But she knew, without a doubt, that it was Uzume who had protected Kushinada and Susa regarding Dodonpa's death. Her love for them was so deep, so pure, so sacrificial... After three long months, Kushinada could finally raise her head and face herself again.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 

"Thank you very much for all you've done today. I must seem like a very immature teacher to you, I'm afraid," Kushinada said rather ruefully.

"Please don't say that. Nobody's perfect," Mia said, smiling at her. "I'll see you at choir on Thursday. Please rest well."

Kushinada bowed and retreated into the house. Susa nodded with a swift smile of his own. Before he could close the door, Mia held up a hand.

"Did Dodonpa come to find Kushinada on the day he died?" she asked quietly. Susa's eyes widened.

"How did you..." he broke off, looking wary and confused.

"I thought so. Please set your mind at ease. Dodonpa's death was an accident, with no one else involved. It is a mystery to all, and a mystery it will remain," Mia said. "This is Uzume's last blessings for you both."

She bowed deeply, then turned and began to walk away. The journey downhill was much slower and quieter than the one uphill. Mia had sorted out her thoughts by the time she reached the bottom of the hill, when Isaac suddenly materialised next to her, shedding his spectral glow as he landed on the ground.

"I didn't notice you disappear. Where did you go?" she asked.

"I was investigating," he replied. "Uzume and Dodonpa have disappeared. No one has seen them since yesterday."

"Did they get taken to the Underworld by demons?" Mia asked. Isaac shook his head.

"When the demons appear, souls within a certain range can sense them. Though some souls were in the same area as them, they sensed nothing. The last time any soul saw them was right before you started chasing Dodonpa and Kushinada. Uzume had been seen in the same area earlier. Apart from them, three other ghosts in that vicinity have disappeared as well."

"But... what might have caused all that?" Mia asked, bewildered. "I don't think it's normal for ghosts to simply disappear into thin air, is it?

"No, it isn't. We can teleport from one place to another, but to disappear and not reappear somewhere else... That is not possible," Isaac said.

"Then... how?"

"More importantly, why."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 

The man frowned and pressed several keys on the keyboard before him. Then he shook his head and pulled a lever. Beside him, a glass capsule opened, revealing a small greyish device.

"How is it, Professor Gray?"

The man turned, and bowed deeply as a hooded man moved beside him.

"It is no good, sir. Without the Channeling Jewel, the device cannot work. The Jewel is essential to have the device focus on souls."

The hooded man sighed. "My boy is searching for the Channeling Jewel in Japan, but it has been missing for hundreds of years. How will we find it? How do we know it still exists?"

"We do not know if it is missing, sir. After all, mediums have a tendency to keep to themselves. Anyone of them might having the Jewel under her cloak, unknown to the whole world. I will soon be able to make a radar for the Jewel, using fragments of its partner, the Exorcising Jewel." Professor Gray said.

"How soon is soon?"

"It should be ready by the end of the month."

"Very well. Get to work."

"Yes, sir."

The hooded man walked out of the laboratory, stopping when the door closed behind him. He turned to a dark niche in the wall where light did not fall upon.

"Have you heard everything?" he asked. The figure in the niche nodded. "Then you know what to do. Go now."

"Any other orders, my lord?" the figure asked in a cracked voice. The hooded man paused.

"Tell Alex to stay away from the media."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 

"Uwaaaahhhhh... Look at the koinobori!" Mia said, awed. (1)

"There used to be a lot more of them," Isaac said, smiling at her admiration. "Nowadays quite a few families do not bother with the Koinobori."

"But they're so beautiful. And they're supposed to symbolise health and happiness, aren't they?"

"Some consider it superstition," Isaac said. "How about you? Are you afraid of walking under ladders? Breaking things on New Year's Day?"

"Of course not," Mia said, shaking her head. "I do enjoy celebrating, but there's no rule that says 'If your son has no koinobori, he will come to no good!!', is there?"

"True," Isaac chuckled at her tone, and the two of them continued walking down the gaily decorated streets.

Since mid-April, a few koinobori had appeared here and there. On Children's Day itself, however, each house and shop on the streets had several Koinobori streaming in front of it. Red, black, white, blue, green and orange streamers could be seen flying with the wind. Red and white ribbons, along with gilded pinwheels, were attached to the long bamboo poles as well, fluttering gaily in the breeze.

It was a wonderful sight, especially for Mia, who had never seen so many well made streamers put up at the same time everywhere. England had no such custom, after all. On hearing that there used to be more Koinobori, she wondered exactly how colourful Japan used to be.

"Did you have a Koinobori every year, too?" she asked.

"When I lived in Wales, no. After I moved here, Father insisted on it," Isaac replied. He smiled. "Mother felt exasperated that first time, when she heard that he wanted one for himself. She said that he was too old for such frolics."

It was the first time that Isaac had spoken to her of his past. His short reminiscence had many pronounced differences in words compared to his usual speech. (2) Again, she became uncomfortably aware of the fact that Isaac was, had been since long ago, dead.

"Is the hanging of koinobori for boys only? I thought this was Children's Day. Doesn't that include girls as well?" she said.

"Long ago, this day was celebrated as Boys' Day. It was made into a public holiday and renamed Children's Day in 1948," Isaac replied. "That year, many boys were complaining that they no longer had a special day, whereas the girls still had their hinamatsuri. (3) Girls also complained; hinamatsuri wasn't made a public holiday."

They reached the park where Odaiba was holding a festival. Stalls and games were set up by every path, rides and sideshows filled every corner, and the smell of food lingered temptingly in the air. Mascots were walking around with balloons, while children chased after them, laughing and shouting with glee. Many were dressed in yukatas, but some, like Isaac and Mia, wore simple Western-style clothes.

"Mom said that it was too much fuss and bother to put on a kimono," Mia said. She watched as a family of five, all dressed in yukatas, walked past. "Imagine how early some of them have to wake up."

Isaac laughed. "Mostly, it's the mother who bundles her sleepy children into clothes. That's why the children are so energetic, while their parents simply watch them, half asleep."

"In other words, it's not dignity that compels them to sit instead of play?"

Both of them chuckled, and entered the park.

Mia had been very interested when she learned of the holiday. Odaiba celebrated Children's Day each year with a festival, and was so familiar to her classmates that many of them were reluctant to go with her.

"Honestly, it's the same thing over and over again. Sideshows, koinobori, little kids, a Momotaro play..." Chaucha had groaned. (4)

Still, Mia wanted to see how the Japanese celebrated their holidays, and nearly decided to go alone. Coincidentally, Isaac had appeared while she was poring over posters of the festival, and had agreed to accompany her. Now that she thought about it, though, he had more reason to be tired of the celebrations than Mia's classmates. He had, after all, probably been to a hundred years' worth of festivals.

The thought made her uncomfortable again, and she was glad for the distraction that appeared in the form of a pink cat mascot. The cat's head had been somehow twisted to the other side, and the paws of the mascot were unsuitable for twisting it back. Without the eye holes, the mascot simply walked around everywhere, bumping into everything and everyone bumpable.

In the end, Isaac stopped him and twisted his head back into place, chuckling as he did so. The cat mascot bowed and handed him a blue balloon before he walked off to explain to two angry mothers that he had not meant to walk over their picnic. Still laughing, Isaac and Mia went over to the mask stall.

"Masks of Musha, Momotaro, Kyuubi, Ookami... Pick one," Isaac said, tying his balloon to Mia's wrist.

"And wear it?" Mia giggled. She finally chose the biggest one she could find, of a fox head. The stall holder helped her to put it on, and pronounced her a fox in a blue dress. Laughing, Mia took the mask off and was about to reach for her purse when Isaac paid the stall holder instead.

"Come on. Do you want to put it on?" Isaac asked. Mia simply stared at him. "What's the matter?"

"How... Where..." _If I ask this directly, it'll be rude!_ "You... can't... pay for my mask."

"I can, and I did," Isaac said, chuckling. "A gentleman always pays for his lady. Today, you are here as my guest, so come along and don't argue."

"It's not that! I mean, you... um..." Mia struggled to find suitable words for what she was about to say. But how on earth do you say to someone "You shouldn't have any money on you, you're dead"?

Isaac seemed to understand what she was getting at. He smiled gently.

"I don't wince everytime someone mentions death," he said. "Long ago, maybe. But I've grown used to being dead. So please don't try to avoid the subject. I'm all right with it. Really."

Mia took a deep breath. "If you say so. Are you still using money from 100 years ago? The currency should have changed, shouldn't it?"

"No, of course not! I mean, yes, it changed. After I became a spirit, I went to take up a job. Not so much for the sake of money, more to keep me occupied."

"Really?" Mia's jaw fell open. The thought had never occurred to her, even after she knew that spirits looked exactly like normal human beings. _Does that mean that there could be many other spirits working like normal humans?_

"Yes. Guess what I work as," Isaac said, grinning. His smile was infectious.

"A zookeeper," Mia said, trying to hide her own smile.

"No."

"A clown."

"Nooo."

"A maid?"

"Of course not!"

Seeing the indignant look on Isaac's face, Mia laughed. "I give up. What do you work as?"

"A gardener!"

"A gardener?"

"Part-time, yes. I love working with the earth, and it doesn't require any certificates. Three or four times a week I visit a sweet old lady at her large mansion and help with all the plants there," Isaac said. "I'll bring you to see Lady Matsumoto some day. Now, let's move on. I want a go at those throwing darts." (5)

Putting on the fox mask, Mia followed the spirit to the covered stall saying 'DARTS!' in katakana. The boy behind the counter was so overcome by a fit of giggles at the sight of Mia that he was obliged to hide under the table for a few moments. When he resurfaced, Isaac asked him for a round before he could burst into a fresh peal of laughter.

Mia watched him from behind her large mask, impressed. Isaac's movements were sharp and accurate, and unlike amateurs who stuck a dart in front of their eyes for a few seconds, he only took one second to aim each dart. All four of his darts hit coloured balloons, and the amazed boy handed over a roll of sweets, two plush dogs and a can of Sprite.

Isaac handed his last dart to Mia. "Have a go," he offered. "Take off the mask if you think it'll hinder your chances."

_Maybe I should have told him that I used to learn archery,_ Mia thought. Without removing the mask that people were laughing at, she pulled back her arm and threw the sharp dart. It hit one of the many large white balloons, unlike the small multicoloured ones that Isaac burst; still, the small audience standing around applauded.

Mia bowed, the fox mask hiding her grin, as she was handed a pencil.

"Not bad. Want to try something else?" Isaac asked.

The result was that they visited many other game stalls, and were soon staggering under small mounds of furry toys, snacks, toy cars, flags, koinobori, and tiny pinwheels. They walked unsteadily over to the large empty spot on the grass near a pond and dumped their winnings on the ground.

"Apparently, our aim is good," Isaac said. "I don't know how we're going to carry all that and walk out of here."

"You're supposed to have supernatural strength. You'll be the porter," Mia said, grinning. She was getting used joking about Isaac's lifelessness, because the spirit himself treated the subject lightly.

Isaac made a face. "Maybe so, but that doesn't mean I can carry all of that and walk more than a few steps without dropping anything. Wait here, and I'll go ask for plastic bags."

As he strolled off, Mia sat down by the pond and stretched. The sky had darkened half an hour ago, and the water reflected the black sky, white moon, and silver stars. A carp broke the surface of the water with a ripple, then disappeared. Mia gazed quietly at her reflection, enjoying the silence of the spot after the noise and bustle of the festival, when she saw someone else in the pond.

Turning, she saw a young man standing behind her. He was covered from head to foot in a black hood and cape, and he was staring intently at her.

"Um, hello," Mia said, somewhat unnerved. His face did not look Asian; in fact, the angular features and green-blue eyes reminded her of her own race. Those green-blue eyes had a sharp, inquiring look that seemed to take in everything they saw, evaluating them swiftly and accurately.

The young man smiled; all of a sudden, he looked kind and friendly, if a little self-assured. "Good evening. May I ask what a beautiful lady like yourself is doing here, sitting in solace by the fish pond?"

His Japanese had an uncomfortable lilt, as if he was unused to speaking the language. His words were charming and polite, and his deep bow as he spoke them was surprisingly regal. She wondered who he was, and why he hid himself beneath a cloak.

"I'm waiting for a friend," Mia replied. "He's looking for plastic bags to carry all that."

She gestured to the small hill of rewards, and the hooded man chuckled.

"He? Ah, how disappointing for me," he said, shaking his head slowly. "I suppose I must leave you to wait, then." He smiled, bowed again, then walked off. His stride was confident, calm, and when he had reached the other side of the pond he threw back his hood.

Mia gasped. Even though there was little light where he stood, and the sky was dark, she saw it clearly. His long, flowing hair was an unmistakable blue.

Very similar to her own.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 

(1) Koinobori: Carp streamers flown to celebrate Children's Day. Though the festival is on 5th May, a public holiday, the koinobori are flown from mid-April to early May.

(2) As with English, people of the past spoke formally and with different words. Instead of 'otousan' and 'okaasan', Isaac used the old words 'chichi-ue' and 'haha-ue'. In English, that would probably be a difference between 'Mom and Dad' and "Mother and Father". Also, Isaac and Mia have been conversing in Japanese, where Isaac speaks with modern, informal words. In his little reminiscence, he switches to oldern words. While he usually uses "ore" for the word "I", a very informal type, in that bit he uses "sessha", a very, VERY formal type that is known to be used by samurai in the oldern days. Just a bit of extra information.

(3) Hinamatsuri: Dolls' Day, also known as Girls' Day. The ladies celebrate it on 3rd March.

(4) Momotaro: The Peach Boy. An old Japanese fairytale.

(5) Over here, Isaac calls his employer "Matsumoto-sama", where -sama is a suffix to show respect for someone in a higher station or position. Though I translated it to 'Lady', she does not actually hold an official position.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 _  
_  
Alllll right. Much more plot is seen here! And again, even if many have already forgotten this, for the few who are still reading, I thank you, and I write!

Until next time!

Daidairo


	7. First Book: Chapter VII

The Mediator

First Book - Fighting the Living

Well! This fic is now nearing it's third year! And I'm still stuck at six chapters!

... For we are all procastinators.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

_"I'm waiting for a friend," Mia replied. "He's looking for plastic bags to carry all that."_

She gestured to the small hill of rewards, and the hooded man chuckled.

"He? Ah, how disappointing for me," he said, shaking his head slowly. "I suppose I must leave you to wait, then." He smiled, bowed again, then walked off. His stride was confident, calm, and when he had reached the other side of the pond he threw back his hood.

Mia gasped. Even though there was little light where he stood, and the sky was dark, she saw it clearly. His long, flowing hair was an unmistakable blue.

Very similar to her own.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter VII

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"You've been very quiet since you returned, Mia. Is something wrong?" Brett asked rather anxiously.

"Did something happen at the festival?" Annabel added, noting her daughter's unusually pale face.

"No, no. I had a wonderful time. Maybe I'm just a little tired, that's all," Mia assured her parents with a smile. "I'll sleep early tonight."

"Have a good rest, dear," her mother called, collecting the empty bowls, as Mia climbed quietly up the wooden stairs.

She lay down on the bed with a sigh. The sight of the blue haired man had unnerved her, and Mia could not help but think that somehow, the two of them were related to each other.

But her blue hair was the result of a rare genetic mutation. His could have been a weird taste in hair dye. Or maybe he just had the mutation as well. After all, albinos aren't all related to each other either.

So why did she feel so strange about it? Was it because she had seen no one else born like that? All the youngsters around that chose to dye their hair blue came out in streaks, or had darker shades. No one else had that natural blue-green colour, except for the stranger she had just met.

Why?

"Oh well. I probably won't see him ever again, so no use pondering. Sleep, Mia," she murmured, then closed her eyes.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"How terrible," Annabel said, shuddering.

"Like the two other cases that have happened within the course of this week, the entire house has been burnt to ashes. There is no trace of the family that lived here, and the police can find no clues to these horrifying crimes," the news reporter said. The camera moved to show black ruins, the only remains of a beautiful cottage.

"Three such cases, likely done by the same culprits, but no leads whatsoever," Brett mused. "How is it possible? No eyewitnesses, no fingerprints, no murder weapons, no bodies either! You'd think the arms and legs would appear floating along a river somewhere..."

"Brett!" Annabel scolded. "We're eating breakfast here!"

"Sorry, love. Still..."

"We know you love to play detective, but you're a banker, not Sherlock Holmes or Kindaichi. Leave off wondering!" (1)

"But you know, it's really strange. If someone really wanted to burn those houses, they'd apply gasoline or oil or something. But there are no traces of that. It's as if someone just flung a large fireball at the place, and kept it there to watch the place burn down. Also, apart from the fact that all three houses are in Japan, there is no link between the families at all."

"Father, you'll be late for work," Mia said. "Your coffee is getting cold."

"Ah, so it is. Well, I'll be off. Annabel, I want sweet potatoes for dinner tonight!"

Mia followed her father to the door, waving. As soon as Annabel disappeared into the kitchen to wash the breakfast things, Brett leaned down and lowered his voice.

"Listen, sweetheart. Later on, a friend of Daddy's is going to come over and hand me some information on those cases. He's working in the police force, and he agreed to let me see some of their finds, as a favour to me. But don't let your mother know, okay?" he said, giving a sheepish chuckle. "I'd like to see if I can crack this case that the police are bewildered by. And your father used to study all these, so I stand a good chance! You can look through the case too, and see if you've inherited any of my good brains, eh?"

"Brett, are you still there?"

"Go on, Father! You'll be late!" Mia said with a laugh.

"Remember, Mia, don't let your mother know!"

It was not long before a middle aged man wrapped in a checkered coat came sneaking up the street. Mia was sweeping the leaves in the courtyard, when she saw him peep all around, then poke his gloved finger in between the open gates. He beckoned.

"Psssst! Hey. You the blue haired daughter of Brett Quicksilver?" he asked softly. "The mother's not around now, is she?"

"No, she's cooking lunch in the kitchen. Are you the police friend-"

"Shhhh! Not a word to anyone, you hear?" he hissed. Putting his hand into his coat, he pulled out a brown package and thrust it at Mia. Without another word, he disappeared around a corner.

Amused and wondering what exactly Brett had told his friend about Annabel's temper, Mia put her broom aside and went to her room. Curiousity made her lock the room and open the brown package, which was filled with pages after pages of documents. A few photographs were included, laminated and labelled.

"What is that?"

Somewhat startled, Mia turned, and saw Isaac standing behind her with an expression of interest.

"Details of arsony and murder, apparently. My father asked for them, and..."

"Mia! Where have you gotten to? The wind is blowing the leaves all over the place!"

"Oops. I forgot about the courtyard. Coming, Mother!" Mia called. She glanced at Isaac, who was reading the thick stack of information, and grinned. Leaving the door locked behind her, she hurried down the stairs and went to finish her chores.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Oh, you're still around! I thought you'd have left already, so I finished lunch myself. Can I get you anything? Biscuits, perhaps?" Mia asked. Isaac looked up from his stack.

"Um, no. No thanks."

"You're still reading that? Is it really that interesting?"

"The information itself, no. The motive and the methods used, yes," Isaac replied, putting the stack down.

"Motive? Are you sure there's one in there? The police don't even have suspects, do they?"

"The police haven't lived as long as I have," Isaac said grimly. He slid three pieces of paper from the stack and showed them to Mia.

"Three different houses were attacked. One of them belongs to Amasawa Daisuke, a kendo teacher. He lived in Hokkaido with his wife and son. The second belongs to a pair of young sisters, named Yamazaki Sayako and Miyako, in Nara. The last belongs to an old potter named Masaaki Yujirou."

"Far from each other, and not related in any way," Mia murmured, scanning quickly through the details.

"That is incorrect. The family trees recorded here shows only three or four generations back," Isaac said. "But in actual fact, they are descendants of the Ryukyu clan."

"Ryukyu...? From the Nansei Islands?" Mia remembered briefly the map of Japan that she sometimes scanned through. A chain of very small islands to the south of the main four islands of Japan.

"Yes. I don't think this is a coincidence. At the top of these family trees is the one woman, Yanagizawa Kanaku. She was a famous shaman in her days," Isaac said. Then he glanced sharply at Mia. "She was also known as a medium."

Mia blinked. "You think... this has something to do with... with ghosts?"

"It would explain how they were able to do all that," Isaac said, gesturing to the photographs of the destroyed houses.

"But why would any ghost want to do that to them? Harbouring a grudge from a century ago?"

"If that were so, why strike only now? I'm going to visit the Nansei Islands." Isaac stood up and started to teleport.

"Wait! Take me with you!" Mia said, putting a hand on his sleeve. "If it's to do with ghosts, I have to make sure they don't cause anymore trouble for the living."

"Do you not trust me to deal with them?" Isaac asked. Mia gasped.

"No, I-I didn't mean it like that! Just..." she stammered. Isaac grinned.

"Don't worry, I understand. Come, we must hurry. There is only a few hours of daylight left," he said, going to the window.

"You go ahead, I have to inform my mother first," Mia said, grabbing up a small bag and thrusting her silver marker into it. She ran down the stairs to find Annabel, who was working in the garden.

"Hello, love. Are you going to help me with the gardening?" Annabel called, waving a spade.

"Sorry, Mother. I'm going out for a while. You don't mind, do you?" she asked.

"Of course not. Go ahead and play, but be home by dinner!"

"Will do!"

Mia waved, then ran out of the gates and looked around for Isaac.

"The islands are quite a distance away, you know. All the way to the south," came a voice from above. Mia looked up and saw him floating down towards her.

"If we're late, I'll just apologise to my mother. Are we going by boat?" Mia asked.

"That will take up even more time. Here." Isaac turned and bent down. "Climb on. We'll fly there."

"F-Fly? Are you sure?" Mia felt appalled. She remembered briefly that he had once carried her, but at that moment she had been too tired to feel anything. Now she wondered if she would feel afraid if she had to soar through the sky without the safety of a plane.

"It's the fastest way."

Sighing, Mia put her hands on Isaac's shoulders as he placed his below her knees. Then Isaac turned his head slightly and smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he said gently. Staring into his clear blue eyes and comforting smile, Mia felt her fears sliding off, and before she knew it, the two of them had risen high into the air, diving between the clouds and heading south.

It was fun. Pure fun. The wind whizzed past them, the clouds dampened them with light droplets, and the sun was warm on their backs. It felt like a roller coaster, without the noise and the artificial jerks. The sky was beautiful, and the land was small beneath them.

"Whatever you do, don't look directly at the sun!" Isaac called behind him.

"I thought the air resistance would be harsher on our faces as we moved," Mia said, bending closer to talk above the blowing of the strong winds. "We must be moving at the speed of cars or something! Yet it doesn't seem painful at all!"

"That's because I'm holding a layer of air molecules in front of your face. Most of the wind hits that before it touches you, so it loses its impact. Yes, that seems a little artificial, but don't worry, this time we're rushing for speed. Next time we fly, I'll let your enjoy it properly," Isaac said.

They sped on, across the large islands, taking care to keep among clouds so that no one below would see them. Diving into a thick cloud sometimes meant seeing nothing but white, but Isaac never lost his direction, and soon they were soaring over the glistening blue sea towards the line of tiny islands.

"We're nearly there. Can you think of a place to land? I can't be seen, but you can, and I think people would panic if someone fell from the sky," Isaac said.

"Trees would be best. Any forests around?"

Isaac flew lower and pointed to a small patch of green. "That looks like a grove of some sort. Hold on tight, all right?"

"What are you going to- Whoaaaaaaa!" Mia gasped as Isaac suddenly plunged downwards in a steep, swift dive. The ground was approaching faster than she thought possible, and the thought that she was going to go 'splat' on it did not help.

She threw her arms around his neck and closed her eyes tightly as they crashed through the leaves and branches of the tallest trees. Birds flew out of the trees in fright as Isaac landed in a thick clump of bushes.

"This way," he explained, as Mia gasped and breathed, "people won't be fast enough to see us. Anyone looking up would think a bird fell from the sky. Though your 'whoaaaa' might have spoiled it."

"You could have warned me," Mia said faintly. "I thought I was going to die!"

"The trees broke our fall, so no, we won't die," Isaac said. "And I did say I was going to keep you safe, didn't I?"

He smiled. And though Mia still felt somewhat stunned from the dive, she could not help smiling back.

"All right. What's our next step?" she asked.

"Um... we look around and see if anything funny is happening?" Isaac suggested.

"And I thought you had a plan," Mia grumbled. "How do we get out of these woods?"

"This way, I remember. Come on."

They moved out of the small forest and looked around. Apart from sand, trees, grass and a few wooden huts, the place was basically empty. There was a light smell of saltwater and fish in the air, along with incense.

"Where is this?" Mia asked, watching as two young children dressed in light yukatas played with a bamboo ball.

"Yaeyama, where Yanagizawa Kanaku lived. She used to have a small shrine, it should still be around somewhere. Let's look around."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"It's not here, Master," the ghost reported in English. The hooded man sighed.

"Very well. I didn't expect her to have left it here either," he replied. The old woman lying on the wooden floor stared at him, terrified, for he seemed to be speaking in a foreign language to thin air.

The house was in a mess. About a dozen souls were floating through the walls, emptying cupboards with their telekinesis, digging everything out in their frenzied search.

"Please don't hurt me! We don't have anything valuable here!" she begged in Japanese, tears running down her wrinkled cheeks. The little girl next to her whimpered and clutched her tightly.

"No? What about the heirloom of your ancestor? The Channeling Jewel?" the hooded man demanded.

"I... I don't know such a thing! We don't have it here!" the old woman exclaimed. Her eyes widened in fear as two spirits closed in on her, daggers floating threateningly before them.

"Yes, it's not here... But you must know where it is hidden, yes?" One dagger flew forward and waved in front of the little girl's face.

The girl screamed. In a flash, the spirit clenched his fist, and the dagger sliced a long line down her cheek. Blood trickled down her face, and fear filled their eyes.

"No! Don't hurt her! Stop, please stop!" the old woman cried in horror. "The old ruins, I heard that there were ruins! Nobody knows where it is exactly, but my grandmother said it was underground somewhere! That's all I know! Please don't hurt us!"

"Hmm. Seems like that's all you know," the man frowned. "Underground. Spirits, come with me. Ghosts, clean up here. Do the usual."

He turned and walked briskly out of the shrine. The ghosts moved towards the two, and they trembled. All they could see were knives and daggers floating towards them.

"What... what is it? Who? I've told you what you wanted! Leave us alone!" the woman shouted, looking around wildly. She clutched the little girl to her and wailed.

"Isaac! I hear something over here!"

All of them turned to look at the doorway, as Mia ran up and pried the door open. She gasped at the sight before her.

"What are you doing?!" she gasped. The ghosts hissed.

"Can she see us?" one asked.

"She can! What is she?"

"She has hair like the Master. She must be a mediator too."

_They're speaking in English,_ Mia realised. Suddenly, all the ghosts and their weapons charged towards Mia. Instinctively, she raised an Energy Blast and whirled it at them. The ghosts scattered, and the blast hit the tall copper statue of a woman, chipping off several pieces.

Realising that it would be safer to stay away, the ghosts picked up the heavy tables and statues lying around and launched them at Mia. Before anything could touch her, Isaac ran in, holding out his right hand with a look of intense concentration. The objects stopped in midair, then dropped to the ground heavily.

"It's a spirit!"

"We can't win a spirit!"

"But if we run the Master will kill us."

"Get the girl and the woman first!"

Immediately, Isaac was standing in front of the two females, his hands out and a harsh expression on his face.

"Mia, get them out. Quickly," he said. His fingers clenched slightly, and all four ghosts suddenly froze.

Mia half carried, half led the two stunned women out of the house, and as she struggled with the weight, she saw the ghosts struggling in midair, cursing and screaming at Isaac. The longer they struggled, the more they seemed to be able to move, and as soon as the three humans stepped out of the house, the ghosts broke free of their invisible hold and charged at Isaac.

"Move away, quickly! It might be dangerous!" Mia warned the other two, pulling them as far away as possible.

Then she turned and headed toward the shrine, but before she could reach the doorway a ghostly light shone out from within, and a loud explosion was heard. Screams of the ghosts faded away, and then everything went quiet.

Isaac floated out through the wall towards Mia, his eyes dull and his expression hard.

"Are... are you all right? What happened?" she asked. Isaac shook his head.

"Everything's fine now. What about them?" he nodded towards the two frightened women.

Mia went over to them and knelt down.

"Are you two all right? Did they do anything to you?" she asked. The old woman shook her head, trembling hard, then said something that Mia could not understand.

"Their language is different from what you have learnt. Let me," Isaac bent down and replied in the same dialect. Mia could hardly recognise any of the words.

She sat and watched as they talked. The woman, finally calming down, explained in a shaky voice as she cleaned her granddaughter's wound with a handkerchief. On and on they spoke, and Mia could only watch helplessly and wonder what they were saying. When they were done, Isaac helped them into the shrine, now empty of ghosts, and waved his hands.

The mess and debris around the place began to clear themselves up, flying back to their original places. The statues righted themselves, the rugs arranged themselves, and the table settled itself in the centre of the room. A fire was started beneath the copper pot, then Isaac lowered his hands.

The woman and her child bowed in thanks. Isaac bowed, then exited.

"Isaac, wait! What's going on?" Mia asked. He bent down and gestured.

"Come on, let's go," he said. "It's getting late, and you have to be back for dinner."

_I suppose he'll tell me when we get back. _Mia climbed on, and Isaac began to fly back to Odaiba.

Throughout the flight, Isaac was quiet, and he seemed to be flying as fast as he could. As they approached Mia's home, Mia began to feel a greater strain and stronger wind on her face.

"Isaac, slow down!" she called, shielding her face with one hand. Isaac plunged down into the garden and dropped her onto the soft grass.

"All right," he said vaguely. "I'm done here."

His entire body lost its white glow and turned grey. Then he closed his eyes and collapsed on the grass.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(1) Kindaichi: A fictitious Japanese amateur detective. More interesting than Sherlock Holmes, in my opinion. XD

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. Kudos to the internet for the information on the Ryukyu Islands. And now I'm going to bed.

Osu!

Daidairo  
29th January 2008


	8. First Book: Chapter VIII

The Mediator

First Book - Fighting the Living

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Isaac, wait! What's going on?" Mia asked. He bent down and gestured.

_"Come on, let's go," he said. "It's getting late, and you have to be back for dinner."_

I suppose he'll tell me when we get back._ Mia climbed on, and Isaac began to fly back to Odaiba._

Throughout the flight, Isaac was quiet, and he seemed to be flying as fast as he could. As they approached Mia's home, Mia began to feel a greater strain and stronger wind on her face.

"Isaac, slow down!" she called, shielding her face with one hand. Isaac plunged down into the garden and dropped her onto the soft grass.

"All right," he said vaguely. "I'm done here."

His entire body lost its white glow and turned grey. Then he closed his eyes and collapsed on the grass.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter VIII

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Mia! You're finally home! Come in, dinner's getting cold!" Annabel called. She put an arm around her daughter's shoulders, steering her towards the door. "Your father has brought something nice for us both! Isn't that sweet?"

"Wait, Mother..." Mia looked helplessly behind her at the unmoving grey spirit behind her. "I..."

"Oh, I'd never have thought it of him! It's not even our anniversary, or my birthday! Yet he bought me my favourite roses, and my special sausages! Those really expensive ones, and to think he queued for two hours to buy them for me! And, sweetie, he also bought that delicious ramen you adore so much! Come on, let's not keep that wonderful man waiting!"

"But I..."

"Mia! Welcome home! Did you have a good day? See what your papa has prepared for you!" Brett announced enthusiastically. He winked at his distraught daughter, and mimed holding a package as Annabel turned to close the door. Mia struggled to smile back at him.

She sat down to the magnificent feast her father had prepared, but she could hardly see the delicious food or the beautiful bouquets on the table. All she could think of was Isaac, lying unconscious in her front yard.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

He eyed the translucent grey figures shivering before him.

"I suppose this means that you have failed me?" he said softly. "One old woman and one little girl. How you disappoint me."

"But Master, it was not our fault!" one ghost whined.

"It was a mediator, and a spirit!" another one offered eagerly. "After you left, they attacked us! That spirit was so powerful, we only just got away!"

The other ghosts muttered in agreement. The man frowned.

"A mediator?"

"She could see us, Master. And she had blue hair like yours," the ghost reported.

"Can it be... her? Though I do not see why..." the man said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's time to do a little research..."

"Master, we are about to disappear. Please, can you heal us?" asked the eager ghost.

"Yes, Master, please!"

"Heal us!"

The man smiled. "You will become spirits soon, will you not? Very well, then." He held out his hands.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Aren't you hungry, Mia? You're not eating much," Brett said anxiously. Mia swallowed her mouthful of ramen and stood up.

"I ate a lot when I was out today, so I'm full now. I'm going upstairs to bathe," she said quickly, then sprinted up the stairs. Annabel and Brett stared after her, somewhat bewildered.

"Do you think that there's something she's not telling us, dear?" Brett asked.

"Maybe she's just a nice, thoughtful daughter, and she wants to give us a little time together," Annabel said, smiling charmingly. "Right, darling?"

"Ahahahah... um... yes... maybe... Great girl, isn't she?"

Meanwhile, the 'great girl' had sped into her room and headed for the window. Looking out, it was quite a drop to the ground, but there was a sturdy tree right next to the window. Grasping the top branches firmly, Mia climbed out. Her weight bent over the long branches, lowering her to the ground until she could jump down safely.

She ran around the house to the front yard, bending down occasionally to hide from the windows, and saw, with a sinking heart, that Isaac was still lying exactly where she left him. She knelt down beside him and turned him around, shaking him gently.

"Isaac? Are you all right? Isaac, please, wake up," she whispered. "Mother may be in her happy little world right now, but Father will wonder what I'm doing out here, so I can't stay long. Please, answer me!"

But Isaac remained motionless, his eyes closed. Mia sat back on her heels, staring at him. It was as if he was dead... except that he had been dead since a long time ago. What on earth was happening to him?

Mia didn't know what to do. None of the ghosts she had ever met had gone into a grey comatose state like that. None of them had made her feel so worried, so uneasy... and so alone.

"Isaac, wake up. Tell me how to help you. There's no one else I can turn to," she pleaded, placing both hands on his shoulder. "Isaac! _Open your eyes!_"

Suddenly, a golden light appeared beneath Mia's hands. She released Isaac's shoulders at once, surprised, and the golden light became a short line between her hands and Isaac's form. Mia blinked at her hands, then pulled them back to stare at her palms. Immediately, the golden line broke, and Mia suddenly felt somewhat breathless.

"What's... going on?" she whispered, rubbing her unglowing hands together. As she stared again at her slightly bent fingers, out of the corners of her eyes, she saw Isaac's head turn slightly.

"Isaac!!" She grabbed the spirit's arm, and once again the golden light appeared at her fingers. She pulled away again, and saw that Isaac's form was starting to look a little less grey. _Does this mean... this light can wake Isaac?  
_  
Deciding to try, she placed both hands on Isaac's shoulders, this time allowing the golden light to connect them without breaking. As the seconds passed by, she felt something flowing out of her towards Isaac. It was not long before Isaac regained his pale colours, stirred, and opened his eyes.

Mia felt her face split wide into a smile. _It's working!! _she thought. For a moment, Isaac stared groggily at Mia.

Then he sat up suddenly and pulled back fiercely, breaking free from her hold.

"You're awake," she breathed. But Isaac simply stared at her in disbelief, his eyebrows knitted into a frown.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded. Mia's smile vanished, and she blinked in confusion.

"What am I... Helping you, of course," she replied.

"Help... Mia, do you know what will happen if you...!" Isaac stopped, then took a deep breath. He eyed her sternly. "You will not do that again."

"A-All right, but why?" Mia asked. "What is that golden thing?"

"You did it without knowing what you're doing?" Isaac choked. He made a sound halfway between a laugh and a cry, pointing a shaky finger at her, then shook his head and sighed, slumping his shoulders.

"Mia? Mia, where are you?"

"It's Mother! I have to get back upstairs!" Mia remembered, panicking. She got up and ran for her window.

"I'll explain another time. Make sure you sleep early tonight, you'll need the rest," Isaac said grimly. Then he put his arms beneath hers and, with some difficulty, flew her unsteadily up to the second floor and slid her gently through the window.

"Wait, Isaac..."

"Mia?" Annabel opened the door. Isaac vanished. "Mia, are you all right?"

"Y-yes. I was just... I'm going to bathe now."

But she could not understand why Isaac had got so agitated over the stream of golden light.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Mia? Helloooooo Earth to Mia!"

Mia blinked, then looked up. Chaucha was staring at her with a puzzled look on her face.

"Chaucha? What's up?"

"The school bell just rang. School's over. And you're daydreaming in your seat. Does that make sense? Does it? Come on, let's go out and play!" Chaucha invited. She caught sight of Mia's notebook, where several random words were scribbled on it. "What's this you're brooding about? Ghost? Spirit? Soul? And mediator? Don't tell me you're a fan of the supernatural!"

"No, no, I'm just... I was reading about these things lately, that's all," Mia lied.

"Ya think they really exist?" Garet said, popping up suddenly.

"Course not. I mean, who can prove they do? There's nothing scientific about any sightings whatsoever, after all," Chaucha announced.

"If it were scientific, it would be called supernatural, right?" Garet said. "How about you, Mia? Do you believe in ghosts?"

"Well, I..." Mia stopped suddenly, as she saw Isaac appear outside the window, beckoning. Somehow, it was difficult to deny the existance of ghosts when a spirit was flying right in front of one's eyes. ''I, uh... I've got to go! I'll see you tomorrow!"

She hurriedly stuffed her pencil case and notebook into her bag, then walked briskly out of the classroom. Garet stared after her, then turned sharply and looked out of the window.

"Garet? What's the matter with you?" Chaucha asked.

"Ah, nothing. I was just thinking..."

"You mean you can think?"

"Heyyy!! What's that supposed to mean, Yellow-Ribbons?"

"What d'ya think it sounds like, Fire-Head?"

Meanwhile, Mia had met up with Isaac outside the school gate. The rest of the student body was walking out in twos and threes, but none of them took any notice whatsoever as Isaac spoke to Mia. She walked slowly on, listening, as the spirit floated on beside her.

"Souls have something called Soul Energy. We use it for nearly everything we do, such as warping, telekinesis, forming Energy Blasts, and so on. When all our Soul Energy is used up, we stop functioning for a while, like what happened to me yesterday."

"What happens then?" Mia asked.

"When we use up Soul Energy, it can be regained over a period of time, but slowly. If we reach that state with no energy left, commonly called the zero-state, we stop moving until some time later, when ten percent or more of our Soul Energy has recovered. That's why I'd be fine even if you had left me alone," Isaac said, sighing.

"But what did I do? What was that golden light?" Mia asked, wondering what this had to do with that.

"That was Soul Energy. Normal humans aren't supposed to have it, but I suppose you're different. Soul Energy can be transferred, like what you did yesterday, and that gave me enough to recover from zero-state. But even for ghosts, the transferring of Soul Energy is a bad idea. While some energy can be transferred, a lot more will be wasted in the process, and the one doing the transferring will fall into zero-state in the end," Isaac explained.

"But I'm not a ghost."

"Exactly. I don't know how it works for humans. If I hadn't stopped you yesterday, you might have fallen into zero-state. I don't know if you can recover Soul Energy like us. Or you might not have a zero-state, and would die instead. It's way too dangerous to attempt something like that. And it would make you really tired if you had continued. Thankfully, I had already recovered a bit of my Soul Energy before you came out, so I woke before you could waste too much of yours."

Mia fell silent. She could remember feeling tired all of a sudden the night before. The fact that things could have been much worse hit her, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for your concern. If you hadn't stopped me, I really don't know what could have happened," she said gratefully. Isaac smiled gently.

"It's nothing. As long as you don't do it again," he cautioned.

"I won't if you'll not use up so much Soul Energy at one go," Mia said. "You spent it defeating those ghosts, putting the shrine in order, and flying me home, didn't you?"

Isaac shook his head, still smiling. "It is nothing. And now, I'd like to talk about what happened at the Yaeyama Islands."

As they continued the walk back to Heaven's Door, Isaac explained. The old woman and her granddaughter lived in the shrine of their ancestor, and for many years, none had disturbed their quiet life. That day, a young man had arrived at their doorstep with floating henchmen and invisible lackeys, and they turned the place upside down searching for something. When they could not find it, the man had asked her for 'the Channeling Jewel'.

"What is that?" Mia asked. "Something belonging to Yanagizawa Kanaku?"

"That's right. She was a medium, remember? One who could summon into her body the soul of a dead one."

The old woman had heard of it a long time ago, when she was a child. But the jewel had been missing for decades, and no one knew where it was. When the men threatened the life of her granddaughter, she mentioned the old ruins that Yanagizawa used to meditate in. No one knew where it was. The young man then left, leaving his invisible ghosts to finish his dirty work.

"The rest, you know. We entered, I defeated the ghosts, and they ran away."

"How terrible. Who is this young man?" Mia said, frowning.

"She doesn't know. He was wearing a hood. But she said..." Isaac glanced sideways at Mia. "She said she could see his blue hair. It looked similar to yours."

Mia stopped moving. "Blue hair?" _Could it be... him?_

Isaac stopped as well. "Mia, do you know something?"

"On Children's Day, you left me by the pond for a while, remember?" she paused as Isaac nodded. "A young man came and spoke to me a little, then he left. And he... he had blue hair, too. Like mine."

She bent her head slightly, then walked on. "I wondered, even then. Maybe it was just hairdye. But even in this time and age, people rarely choose to put this blue on their heads. And it looked natural, just like mine."

"You mean, your hair is natural?" Isaac asked, blinking in surprise. Mia raised an eyebrow.

"It's a genetic mutation, my parents said. And I thought maybe he was the same."

"Are you sure it's a genetic mutation? I've never seen anyone else with hair like yours. At least, they say it's not natural. And I've been around for many years."

"I really don't know, Isaac. But that man... I can't help but wonder who exactly he is," Mia said. "Those ghosts said that I was a mediator like the Master... Does that mean that he... has the same abilities as me?"

"It is likely. Maybe the term is used in their circle to address someone who can see ghosts, use Energy Blasts, have Soul Energy..."

"Even Michigawa Ankyo called me a mediator, a long time ago. I nearly forgot, but I had wondered what he meant," Mia said thoughtfully. "So this blue haired young man is... a mediator, like me?"

"We may never know," Isaac said. They stopped in front of Heaven's Door. "Well, I'll be off now. I'm going to investigate a little."

"About what?" Mia asked.

"The Channeling Jewel. That mediator must want it for a reason. Now, go on in and do your homework!" Isaac waved, then disappeared.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"It is finished, sir! Even before our expected deadline, it is complete!" Professor Gray exclaimed. The hooded man beside him smiled.

"Wonderful. Can it be used immediately?"

"No, sir. It takes a full day to charge. By noon tomorrow, it will be well and functioning properly, and the Channeling Jewel will be found within no time!"

"Very well. At noon tomorrow, I will send my men over for this radar. Attach a charger and instructions, and pack it _well_. My men will ship it to Japan, where Alex is waiting, and he will take over the search," the man instructed.

"Yes, sir. But sir, the range of this radar is still quite limited, because our fragments of the Exorcising Jewel are small and weak. But it will help, sir, definitely! It might just take some time, that's all..."

"Do not worry. Alex is an efficient worker, and he will know where to use the radar. Just do your job, Professor Gray, and I will handle the rest."

"Yes, sir. And... and the payment for this..." Professor Gray said, twiddling his thumbs.

"Ah, yes. Now you have completed this radar, I should give you part of the promised amount. One million US dollars will be transferred to your account immediately. And the rest will be given as soon as you finish the barrier generator."

"Thank you very much, sir!"

"Work hard for me, and you will receive whatever you want," the man said, patting his shoulder.

"Yes, sir! I pledge allegiance to Lord Babi!"

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"It will arrive tonight. Be ready to receive it. Remember, secrecy is most important. Do not let anyone hear of this."

"Of course. Contact me when you are about to arrive," the young man said softly. He pressed a button on his mobile phone, then snapped it shut.

As he exited the small, quiet alley and stepped out into the crowded, noisy street, one person among the many others hurrying along caught his eye. He grinned, then slowly began to approach her. The noisy crowd soon proved useful, as a few unruly middle-aged women bumped hard into the girl and stomped briskly off, yakking loudly, no doubt heading for some supermarket that was having a sale.

The blue haired girl bent down to pick up her dropped paper bags, and the hurrying crowd pushed past her like a stampede. She began to look somewhat harrassed.

"Oh dear. Why, we mustn't leave the poor girl to struggle on her own," the young man muttered. He went over and grabbed the bags, pulling the girl out of the main road and onto the empty grass patch beside.

She gasped, then took a deep breath and sighed. He handed her the paper bags, and she took them, then turned to look at him.

"Thank you very much, Mister..." Her eyes widened as she stared at him. The young man smiled charmingly.

"Alex. I am Alex Aquarius, dear lady," he said. "I believe we have met before?"

"Ah, yes. At the festival in the park, on Children's Day," the girl stammered.

"Yes, yes, when you were waiting for your male friend. He is not here today, I hope?"

"N-No, but..."

"Why, that's excellent. Then maybe you would allow me to help you with these?" Alex took the paper bags and smiled his charming smile again. "It is a lot of groceries for a lady to carry. Please let me see you home."

"It's not necessary, Mr Aquarius..."

"Call me Alex. And it occurs to me that you have not yet told me your name."

"I'm Mia Quicksilver, but I'd rather not bother you."

"It's no bother at all. Now that we know each other, consider it a new friend offering his help," Alex said. "Let us go before the crowd gets any bigger, shall we?"

He walked off with the groceries, and Mia had no choice but to follow.

"Thank you very much, Alex. But why are you doing this?" she asked. It seemed like she had gotten over her first shock of his hair, and was regaining her common sense.

"I have a heart of gold. When I see a damsel in distress, why, what could I do but offer a helping hand?"

Mia laughed at his manner of speaking. As Alex once again showed his charming smile, she wondered if he was actually serious.

"You're not a native Japanese, are you?" she asked. "No one speaks like that any more." (1)

"Do I look like a Japanese to you, my dear Mia? It is quite obvious that we are both non-Asians, is it not?" Alex said. "Look at our features! Our pale skin! Our blue eyes! Our blue hair!"

"Blue... hair..." Mia slowed down and stopped, staring. Alex's long, blue hair flowed freely behind him, as beautiful as the sea, looking absolutely natural. He looked like a pretty boy out of a manga, as he stood and smiled at her. Quite a few females passing by were sneaking second looks at him.

"We are very alike, you and I. Very, very alike. More than you know, Mia," Alex said softly. Mia blinked at him.

"Did you dye yours, Mia?"

"Dye... what? Um, no, it's natural. My parents told me it's a harmless genetic mutation," Mia replied.

"Your parents... ah, I see. But I, I was born with this hair, Mia," Alex said.

"The same genetic mutation?" Mia asked.

"No. It is normal. I inherited this blue hair from my parents," Alex answered. His smile changed suddenly, becoming as secretive as Mona Lisa's. "My biological parents."

"Your..."

"Mia, is that you back yet? My oven's getting nice and hot! Bring the things in, quickly!"

"I believe that is your mother calling?" Alex said, putting the paper bags on the ground. "Go on then. I will see you again."

"Wait, Alex..."

"Farewell!" Alex walked briskly off. As Mia tried to follow, she tripped over the bags and stumbled. By the time she recovered her balance, Alex was gone.

"Mia, didn't you hear me calling?" Annabel asked crossly as she ran up, bending down to grab some of the paper bags. "What are you doing standing there? Come, help me bring the things in."

Mia sighed and lifted the bags, taking them to the kitchen. Her head still spinning with unanswered questions and all that had happened, she dumped the bags on the table and walked blankly up the stairs to her room. Once in, she closed the door and leaned against it.

Isaac was sitting on the window sill. He raised a hand in greeting, but she simply stared straight ahead.

"I just... I don't get it. What was he trying to say?" she muttered.

"Mia?"

"Is he really the same person who set those ghosts on that family at Yaeyama Islands? I have to ask him somehow..."

"Mia? What's wrong?"

"He seemed to be trying to hint at something. But... what?"

"Mia!"

Mia blinked. Then she saw Isaac's worried face in front of hers, and jumped.

"What, what, what??" she cried. Isaac jumped back at her outburst.

"What? What?" he repeated, looking as stunned and bewildered as her.

"Mia? What are you doing shouting away up there?" Annabel called.

"Ah, it's... it's nothing!" Mia called back. "I'm practicing for English drama class!"

"Well then, try to practice a little softer, will you?"

"All right!"

As soon as Annabel's footsteps died away, Mia sighed and collapsed on the floor. Isaac bent down slightly.

"Mia?" he said tentatively. "Are you okay? You're... acting strangely today."

Mia sighed, then looked up at him.

"You'd better sit down. It's a long story."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

They stood on the rooftop of the hotel.

"For when the Overworld and the Underworld clashes..."

"The Lord shall rule over all," Alex replied. "And his power shall extend...?"

"Over land, sea, air, and graves."

Both bowed to each other. The tall, dark man removed his sunglasses.

"You are Mr Alex Aquarius?"

"Yes."

"The radar is in your hands, then." He snapped his fingers, and two men carried a large, brown cardboard package out of the helicopter. "Finish your work as quickly as possible."

"Send my regards to Lord Babi," Alex said.

The two shook hands, and within a few minutes, the helicopter took off into the dark night. Alex opened the box and took out a large silver watch.

"And now, I have work to do," he murmured.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(1) Alex speaks using a somewhat old style of speaking. Similar to what I mentioned Isaac was using, but Alex's holds a very refined, lordly manner. Isaac's was more of a warrior type.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

For I have time to write, so I shall write.

Review, please!

Daidairo  
6th March 2008


	9. First Book: Chapter IX

The Mediator

First Book - Fighting the Living

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
_  
They stood on the rooftop of the hotel.  
_

_"For when the Overworld and the Underworld clashes..."_

"The Lord shall rule over all," Alex replied. "And his power shall extend...?"

"Over land, sea, air, and graves."

Both bowed to each other. The tall, dark man removed his sunglasses.  


_"You are Mr Alex Aquarius?"_

"Yes."

"The radar is in your hands, then." He snapped his fingers, and two men carried a large, brown cardboard package out of the helicopter. "Finish your work as quickly as possible."

"Send my regards to Lord Babi," Alex said.

The two shook hands, and within a few minutes, the helicopter took off into the dark night. Alex opened the box and took out a large silver watch.

"And now, I have work to do," he murmured.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Chapter IX

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Do you think he wanted to tell me something?" Mia asked anxiously. Isaac frowned.

"I don't know. But it seems to me that your meeting today was no accident," he replied.

"You mean, he was looking for me? But why? Because I'm a mediator like him?"

"Whatever it is, do not forget that he was the one behind that attack on Yaeyama Islands. This Alex Aquarius may be more dangerous than we think," said Isaac quietly. "Be on your guard if you ever see him again."

Mia nodded.

"I'll go out and ask around. It's possible that other ghosts might have seen him. You stay here and finish your homework."

"If you have any news, you'll inform me immediately?" Mia said. Isaac hesitated, then nodded. He flew through the wall.

Mia twiddled her thumbs. She didn't know why, but somehow, she felt inclined to get to the bottom of everything. Even now, Alex's words swam in her mind, and she wanted to see him again, ask him what he meant, and find out who he was.

She continued worrying about it all through school the next day.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Bingo," Alex said softly. He looked up at the relatively large and modern house. With pale blue walls, Victorian gates, and an English car sitting in the garage, it gave the impression of a foreigner's home. No one would think it had anything to do with a legendary Japanese medium.

The game-controller-sized red device in Alex's hand was beeping softly. Snapping his fingers twice, he waited until five ghosts had gathered and were floating behind him. Then, holding the device with one hand, he went up to the door and pressed the silver doorbell.

About a minute later, the door opened, and a girl with dark brown hair opened the door. Wearing a dark blue sailor school uniform, she looked about 15.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Alex smiled charmingly.

"Are you the owner of this house, my dear?"

"Oh, no. Mother is. We're not selling, though," she said, folding her arms.

"That is not what I'm after. If I may come in?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he entered.

"Ah, wait!"

"Kanako, who is it?" an older woman asked, walking out of the kitchen in surprise. She stopped at the sight of Alex, and shivered.

"Hello, Ma'am. May I ask your name?" greeted Alex.

"I am Yanagizawa. And you, sir?" she said stiffly. Her grey T-shirt left both arms bare, and she rubbed them.

"Ah, the one name I didn't check, because I was sure you would have changed it. How careless of me," Alex rubbed his nose gently. "That is your maiden name?"

"Who are you?" the woman demanded. "You... the aura..."

"I want the Channeling Jewel," Alex said. "Hand it over, and I'll do you no harm."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Get out of my house," ordered the woman. Alex shook his head slightly. Behind him, one of the ghosts gestured, and the big grey iron sitting near the window suddenly rose up. It flew towards the two women, and as they stared in dumbstruck horror, the ghost clenched his fist, and the iron dropped, landing with a loud crash on the floor.

"We don't have anything like that in the house! Leave us alone!" Kanako screamed. She clutched at her mother's long apron. Alex sighed.

"Looks like we have to do this the hard way, then. Search!"

Immediately, the ghosts behind him began to flit through the house.

"What... What are you doing?!" Ms Yanagizawa exclaimed. She trembled. "You... the ghosts...!"

"Looks like you can sense them. I'll make you a deal, Ms Yanagizawa. If you hand over Kanaku's jewel, I'll leave you in peace," Alex said reassuringly. Both women simply glared at him.

"As if we'd ever do that!" Kanako exclaimed.

"Kanako! Shut up!"

"Ah, so you do know about the jewel! Then they should have no trouble finding it in your safe..."

But when the ghosts gathered, "Nothing, sir" was the report. Alex looked down at his beeping radar.

"It's definitely here somewhere. Unless..." he eyed the two women.

"If you don't get out now, I'm calling the police!" Ms Yanagizawa threatened. She strode over to the white telephone. As she raised the receiver, two spirits appeared and floated towards her.

"Ah, now, we can't have that, can we?" Alex said pleasantly.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Isaac stopped. He looked around. Somewhere, something was calling.

'Help me... please... He's coming...'  
_  
What was that? _Isaac thought. He could feel a weak source of energy pulling at him. A few layabout ghosts hanging around seemed to sense it as well, and they looked about uneasily.

Only one way to find out. He started to fly towards the direction of the energy. The voice was still rather weak, echoing softly in his head.

'Please... he's coming... Help me... please... he's coming...'

"Who is it?" Isaac said aloud. Then the voice became stronger.

'You must help me.'

A feeling of dread came over Isaac, and he frowned, increasing his speed. He soared over the rooftops of Odaiba, past confused ghosts.

'You must help me, Isaac.'

"Wha?!" Isaac halted abruptly. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

'Quickly. To my seal. I will explain there. Quickly!'

Something pinged inside him, and the energy source began to beckon. Closing his eyes and focusing hard, Isaac allowed the voice to pull him. Floating through buildings, underground, through pipes and soil...

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in an underground shrine. The walls were made of yellowish grey stone, with ancient Japanese carvings and paintings on them. He could feel quite a few ghosts and spirits somewhere around, but what caught his attention was the large purple gemstone sitting in the middle of the shrine.

It was about the size of a volleyball, held in a large grey chalice, engraved with many unknown symbols. Thin silver ropes were wrapped around the chalice and jewel, holding them firmly to the small yellowish stone altar. The jewel sent out a strange wave, and Isaac felt something in him echoing the wave.

Then from the jewel, a hooded spirit rose, glowing white. She was robed in lilac, with a hood of white, and though her hands were wrinkled, her voice was steady when she spoke.

'Isaac. You must help me.' Her lips were still as she spoke.

"You speak in the ancient language of the Ryukyu clans. Who are you?" Isaac asked.

'I am Yanagizawa Kanaku. I am the maker of this Channeling Jewel,' came the telepathic reply.

"You are... a spirit?"

'No. My soul is no longer in this world. This is merely... a memory. Left with the seal I placed upon this jewel. But the seal will not hold against him. You must help me.'

"How? And why?" Isaac demanded. _What was he supposed to do?_

'He is after my jewel. This powerful, cursed jewel. Nothing good will come of anyone possessing it. You must not let him break my seal, Isaac.'

"I..."

'Please believe me, Isaac. He...'

With a loud crash, one of the walls came tumbling down. Isaac whirled around, and through the debris, two spirits emerged, looking rather grey. Patchs of dark grey filled their forms, and they stared at the unharmed Isaac in disbelief.

"Who are you? How did you get here?" one of them demanded. _English? _Isaac blinked.

"What's the matter?" a smooth voice asked in Japanese, and a third figure stepped through the debris. He stared at Isaac, as Isaac stared back at him.

"A spirit?"

_Blue hair! Alex Aquarius? _Isaac clenched his fists slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to get," Alex pointed at the jewel, "that. Are you another trap that we have to pass?"

"Trap?"

'My shrine is filled with traps that can destroy souls, but the ghosts of this ruthless mediator have taken the blows. You must stop him!'

"Oh dear. That is Yanagizawa Kanaku, I presume?" Alex asked, sighing. He smiled at Isaac. "Old women tend to get so agitated. I just want to _borrow _that pretty jewel for a while, that's all. I swear I won't harm any humans. Will you let me pass?"

'You cannot!' Kanaku flew forward. 'The Channeling Jewel is cursed! If you use it, it'll...'

"It'll be fine. We have the best scientists in the world to work on it. So you can just move on to your next life, and stop worrying about something you left behind, all right?" Alex raised a hand, and an Energy Blast appeared. Kanaku disappeared as it passed through her, and headed towards the jewel. Before it could explode, Isaac had cast a large barrier of protection over the altar. The Energy Blast was absorbed, and the barrier disappeared.

Alex blinked in surprise. "You... you are good. I could use you on my team."

"Your team of ghosts and spirits? Who keep on doing harm to the other humans? What are you after?" Isaac asked warily.

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked. "Have you ever seen me do anything to hurt..."

"You went to Yaeyama Islands a few days ago, didn't you?" Isaac said coldly. "Amasawa Daisuke, wife and son. Yamazaki Sayako and Miyako. Masaaki Yujirou. You had a hand in everything."

Alex eyed him gravely, his face losing its easygoing smile. "Then you are the spirit who appeared on the Yaeyama Islands. With Mia."

"You're planning something," Isaac accused. His blue eyes grew even darker and colder. "I won't allow you to hurt any more innocent humans."

"Very well. George, Lenneth, forward!" Alex ordered. Shouting, the two greying spirits charged. Isaac held out his hands, and both of them froze. Having spent most of their power on the traps in the shrine, they were helpless against Isaac's Energy Blast, and they collapsed to the ground in zero state.

Alex smiled slowly. Without warning, he suddenly ran forward, moving at a speed that was just slightly above human capabilities. He raised his right arm and swung. Taken by surprise, Isaac could only dodge sharply to the left, and Alex's clenched fist rammed into his right arm.

Gritting his teeth, Isaac flew backwards, putting distance between him and Alex.

"What are you?" he demanded.

"A mediator. But you should know that. Unless dear Mia hasn't figured out how to use all her abilities?"

His arrogant voice, coupled with the dig at Mia, made Isaac turn on his offensive mode. The spirit raised both arms sideways horizontally. Cracks appeared in the floor and walls, and the stone broke. As Isaac brought his hands together swiftly, each piece rose and homed in towards Alex.

Alex gave a cry of alarm as the stone pieces crushed him, rendering him immobile. Isaac held his hands together, until only Alex's head was unconvered by stone. The mediator scowled.

"I'll let you go if you swear not to come near this house anymore," Isaac said. "Do I have your word?"

Before Alex could answer, there was a loud crash, and the ceiling came crashing down. A dozen souls came flying in, one of them holding a red device. They aimed energy blasts at Isaac, who was forced to erect a large barrier around himself and the jewel. His hold on Alex loosened, and the mediator escaped from his stony prison.

"We're causing too much disruption here. The radar! Quickly!" Alex cried. He grabbed the device and pressed several buttons on it. A bright light surrounded him, and he eyed Isaac.

"I look forward to seeing you again."

A flash of bright light shone, and he was gone.

"He... teleported?" _But for humans, even a mediator, that should be impossible!_

"We have the best scientists in the world to work on it. " _If that were true, was it technology that enabled him to teleport away?_

More importantly, why did he have the best scientists on his side? What were they after?

'He has returned for reinforcements. You must get help.' Kanaku had reappeared, much fainter than before. 'All those blows have weakened my seal. It will not hold much longer. Hurry, Isaac, before he comes back. Go for help. Find a mediator.'

Again Kanaku disappeared. Isaac stared at the loosened silver ropes on the Channeling Jewel.

Find a mediator? Could Mia do anything about this?

_But what if I put her in danger?_

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

They stood in a small room, examining the map that Alex had drawn out.

"We will raid the place tonight. Get the ghosts ready to help," Alex ordered. Nodding in obedience, the spirits left the room. One of them remained.

"What if that spirit reappears, Master?" he asked.

"We will be able to take him down. One spirit alone cannot fight against a dozen ghosts," Alex said.

"But in doing so, our ghosts might disintegrate," the spirit said. Then he raised an eyebrow. "And that is what you are after, is it not?"

"You are too suspicious, Benjamin. Why would I want to destroy my men?"

"Most of them do not know what Lord Babi is after. But I was with him. I know what the Barrier Generator is for. Once it is complete..."

"Benjamin. Do you know why I asked for more ghosts to be in this mission, instead of spirits?" Alex asked, closing the door.

"Because spirits are rare, taking a hundred years to form. Yet our power is invaluable to you. So you would rather let a lot of ghosts die for their work, then send in a few spirits that might be lost."

"You are very sharp. I didn't choose you to be my trusted assistant for nothing."

"Master Alex, you are cunning. How do I know if you will not destroy me the minute that Channeling Jewel is in your hands?" Benjamin demanded. He seemed confident, but greyish shoulders were shaking.

"Ah, but you don't. You just have to trust me. And remember that I have the ability to send you to the Underworld whenever I wish to," Alex whispered. Then he smiled. "But Benjamin, if you trust me, and work with me, you will be able to stay with your wife and son for as long as you want to."

"But the other ghosts?" Benjamin persisted. Alex raised a hand.

"That is their business, not yours. Will you meddle in their afterlives, and thus bring harm unto yourself?"

Benjamin opened his mouth to reply, then thought better of it. He stared at Alex silently for a while.

"Do you promise that you will not destroy me? Send me to the Underworld?"

"I promise that I will not disintegrate you, or exorcise you," Alex said readily. "Now, go make preparations for tonight. You will be in charge."

Benjamin bowed, then exited the room.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Mia bit her lip anxiously. "I... really don't know what I can do to help. Are you sure Ms Yanagizawa wanted me to go?"

"Her descendants would like to keep this quiet, without letting the police or the rest of the world know. But Alex will definitely return soon. I can't let him hurt them," Isaac said. He looked into Mia's worried blue eyes. "It will be dangerous, maybe more than we can imagine."

"In spite of that, you are determined to go?" Mia hesitated. Closing her eyes, she murmured something, then steeled her chin. "I will go with you."

Isaac smiled. Somehow, he knew she would say that. "But you must keep yourself safe, all right?"

"I will if you will," Mia said, smiling back at him. "But I have to eat dinner first. We'll leave after that."

"Alex might return before..."

"He did say they were causing too much disruption. I don't think he wants to let the rest of the world see what he's doing. So it is more likely that he will strike at night, right?" Mia said. Isaac sighed.

"Very well. But hurry, all right?" he said. Mia nodded and left the room.

He would not mention it, but she knew that he needed time to regenerate his Soul Energy. Their only chance of winning a fight would be starting it at full strength.

The sky had darkened when they finally flew out of the window towards the Yanagizawas' house. Mia clutched the silver marker inside her pocket.

Yet for some reason, part of her didn't want to fight. That part of her wanted to talk to Alex, to ask him for an explanation. He had seemed so familiar, so warm, so friendly... she wanted to give him a chance to explain his actions.

If he had the best scientists on his side, it is possible that there was a large organisation behind it. What was that organisation, and why was Alex involved in it?

Mia suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, as Isaac turned sharply, avoiding an Energy Blast flung at them.

"What-"

"We're being ambushed! When I land, head for cover immediately!" Isaac cried. He swooped around several more Energy Blasts, causing Mia to grab his shoulders more tightly, before he could land behind a large tree. Mia slipped off his back, and Isaac flew back into the air.

Twelve ghosts were floating around, casting small Energy Blasts at him. Each one was large enough to hurt to a soul, yet small enough to cause no visible damage to the roads and buildings. Isaac gritted his teeth and held out his hands, stopping them in midair. They struggled in vain to free themselves, when three spirits appeared and flung more Energy Blasts at Isaac.

He dodged them, and recognising one of the spirits, he called out in English. "Where is Alex?"

Mia blinked. _Isaac speaks English? _

"The Master does not need to deal with you personally. I will destroy you," the spirit replied in the same language.

_I was right. Most of them are English-speaking. That is probably where their group resides._ "I do not wish to fight with you. Please, tell me. Why are you helping him?" asked Isaac.

"That is none of your business," the spirit replied roughly. "You must be dealt with at once."

He raised his hands and formed large Energy Blasts.

Mia gasped. "Isaac! The other humans!"

Before the other spirit fired, Isaac dove downwards into the earth and disappeared. Roaring, the souls followed him, disappearing into the ground.

Mia looked around desperately, until she saw a flash of ghostly light shining from a single house. She ran to it, and pushed the unlocked door open. A woman and her daughter were conversing rapidly in low voices as they stared through a hole in the floor, and they jumped in fright when Mia entered.

"Is that... Are you the descendants of Yanagizawa Kanaku?" she asked.

"What do you want? We don't have anything here!" the girl cried. The woman stood in front of the rectangular hole.

"Leave at once! We've had enough trouble here!" she exclaimed.

"No, please, wait. I want to help you!" Mia explained. "Yanagizawa Kanaku, she... she called for me."

They both eyed her suspiciously. Before they could say anything, a loud explosion sounded through the hole, and pieces of broken debris came flying up. The two women dodged, screaming.

"Get away from here, quickly! Find a place to hide!" Mia cried.

"But the jewel... we have to keep it safe!" the woman protested, as her young daughter tried to drag her away, crying hard.

"I'll do my best. But you have to run! Quickly!" Mia insisted. The ghost was lying on the wooden floor in zero-state, and she leapt through the hole, hoping that Isaac was still all right.

She landed safely after a few feet, and ran down the long passage before her. There were holes, rocks, and pits all around her, but all the traps seemed to have been activated, so Mia continued running forward, up the stairs and down the ladders, until she came to the final room, where Isaac was fighting eight ghosts and three spirits.

It seemed totally chaotic, each of them moving at high speed, firing Energy Blasts in all directions. Mia wanted to help, but she knew that if she missed, Isaac might take the blow instead.

Hopping first on one foot, then the other, she decided to get the jewel first. Racing past the battling souls, ignoring their cries of surprise, she hoped that Isaac could handle them for a little while more.

Mia grabbed the Channeling jewel with both hands, then let go immediately as a voice sounded in her head.

'Mediator... destroy the jewel, now... before it is too late...'

"But, how?"

'Release the seal. Attack it with your Soul Energy. Once the seal breaks, you must destroy the jewel immediately! Only you can...'

The voice trailed off. As even more explosions and yells sounded behind her, Mia gripped the silver ropes tightly.

"Attack with Soul Energy... attack with Soul Energy..." she muttered. Not knowing how to control it, all she could think of doing was repeat the words over and over again, willing and wishing with all her might.

And it seemed to work. Familiar golden streams of energy began to flow into the silver ropes, and they gleamed brightly, before breaking with a loud snap.

_That was easier that I expected,_ Mia thought in surprise. Lifting the jewel from the chalice, she turned to run, but one of the spirits was blocking her way.

"Mia! Get away! Quickly!" Isaac cried. His voice was strained, and even though there was only the three spirits and two ghosts left, Isaac seemed to have used up nearly all his Soul Energy.

The spirit reached out for the jewel, and Mia shrank back. Raising a hand, she fired an Energy Blast at him, and he dodged backwards. Hissing, he raised his hands to form Energy Blasts, until Mia lifted the jewel in front of her.

"Don't move!" she shouted in English. "If you attack, this will be destroyed!"

She had guessed correctly; they had been ordered to bring it back in one piece. The souls muttered among themselves worriedly, and Isaac flew towards her.

"What are you doing?" he whispered.

"The voice told me to destroy this. Only I can do it, she said. But they don't know that," Mia whispered back, holding the jewel like a shield before her. The souls continued talking to each other, staring at the jewel warily.

"What do you intend to do now?"

"I... I don't know. I'm hoping to stall long enough for the two Yanagizawas to escape from here," Mia said worriedly. "I don't have a plan, but..."

"Hey, you! The mediator!" one spirit called. "If you hand over that jewel, we'll let you go."

"And if not?" Mia said, breathing hard, though she already knew the answer.

"Not even that old spirit beside you can save you. He's near zero-state. Now be good. Hand over that jewel."

"They're safe," Isaac murmured. "They left on a vehicle just a few minutes ago. I felt their presence leave."

"Good." Mia raised the jewel. The souls cried out in horror as she dropped it. It landed with a clatter on the floor, before the souls could use telekinesis on it.

It stayed on the floor.

Unharmed.

Mia widened her eyes in disbelief. "How... I was supposed to destroy it!"

"Well, too bad!" the spirit sneered. He waved his arms, and the Channeling Jewel began to fly towards him. Isaac flung out a hand to stop it, and the jewel floated in midair, advancing first to one side, then the other.

The other souls grabbed the spirit's hand, adding their Soul Energy to him, and the jewel began to move steadily towards them.

"On my count, attack them with the largest Energy Blast you can conjure," Isaac muttered. "Ready?"

Mia nodded, then raised her hands behind her back.

"One... two... THREE!"

Isaac released his hold on the jewel. The force of the other souls energy sent them plummenting backwards, the jewel flying towards them. It landed at their feet, and the next thing that came flying was a large Energy Blast the size of a horse.

The spirits leapt to their feet, but it was too late for them to do anything except pull the ghosts in front of them. The Energy Blast exploded, and bright light filled the entire room. The walls began to crumble, the stone floor broke. Isaac pulled Mia out of the way, soaring up the passage and to the house so swiftly that Mia could only choke and splutter.

When she opened her eyes, they were standing outside. What was once a beautiful house was now a block of fallen ruins. Dust filled the air, and the three spirits could just be seen floating upwards. All three were dark grey, nearing zero-state, as they floated to a car humming quietly at the side.

"The jewel!" Mia gasped. She tried to move towards the car, but collapsed on the ground instead. Beside her, Isaac groaned. Someone in the car took the jewel from the spirits. As they watched, sparkling golden dust filled the air and flew towards the car. Some of it was absorbed by the three spirits, the rest entered the car by the window.

As Mia tried to stand, Isaac grabbed her arm.

"Don't. We'll never stop them now."

"But-!"

"If we go after them, you might get killed."

"I don't..."

WAAAAAWWWWWAAAAAWWWWWWW!!

"The police! We must go, quickly!" Isaac said. He struggled up and gestured to his back.

"I can't... You're going to hit zero-state again!" Mia protested. Isaac grabbed her arms and hoisted her up.

"It doesn't matter. I can't let you get into trouble here." Without another word, he flew upwards.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

This wasn't so excellent. In fact I think there were places a little odd... But I can't for the life of me think why.

Daidairo  
3rd April 2008


End file.
